Doctor Whooves: Legacies of the Toymaker
by The Imperator 2 you
Summary: The Doctor has been defeated, and his wife is no longer in any shape to help him, The Professor has claimed her prize and sped away, leaving the two daughters behind to watch as their family is torn apart. All hope seems lost, but he has one final card to play, and it is an unexpected card in the eyes of all. Can Dinky Doo follow the trail to rescue her father before its too late?
1. Prologue

The Story Thus Far, as said by Anasi

*Anasi Playing a Violin*

Hello boys and girls, did you enjoy last night's story? Hope ya did because the fun hasn't ended yet. I wanna thank you all for comin back for another night here in the Golden Playhouse, and with your favorite host of this fine establishment, Anasi. Well pull up a pillow and have a drink on me kiddies, because tonight I am bringing you yet another lovely little story written by the boss himself.

When we all left each other last night, it was rather sudden, but hey the sun rose up a little too fast for my liking. I'm glad you all came back to hear the next part in our lovely little tale, the second part of the story of Doctor Whooves versus The Professor.

Now when we left off last night, The Doctor was fightin his heart out against The Professor, but the sudden appearance of Dinky, his filly, ended a barrage of hits from her. In a desperate bid to protect his daughter, our hero used a distraction created by her toy, which he had designed to protect her in desperate times. He then engaged her for one last showdown, in a desperate bid to defeat her and rescue the hostages in the throne room, which included his wife and second daughter.

Little did he know that the hostages in the throne room had just rescued themselves, and Derpy Hooves, his wife rushed to her husband's rescue. But it was too little too late, as the final confrontation between him and The Professor ended abruptly, resulting in his defeat as he is flung from the palace to land to his death. Fortunately for him, his wife is a Pegasus Pony, and she flew after him and saved his life, but he was badly wounded and was unconscious as they landed in the garden below.

Derpy, desperate to save her husband as The Professor closed in on her prize, challenged the mare herself as she charged the mare with all the strength she had. However a Time Lord is not easily defeated, and she single handedly outsmarted and overpowered The Doctor himself. This meant that Derpy had no hope of winning as she was battered from all sides by this enemy, and she too fell to the Professor's might as she tried her best to save The Doctor.

Luna, Sparkler and all the ponies who had come to know him that day, watched helplessly as The Professor captured her prize and took off into the sky, taunting them as all the Pegasus Ponies in Canterlot seemed incapable of flight. That is where we stand now boys and girls.

*Put's Violin down*

So tell me, are you all eager to find out if The Doctor is really out of the picture? What about little old Celestia, last I checked she was still stuck in that mare's Tardis. Can she possibly save The Doctor while she is under her captor's watchful eyes? What about Derpy, she took quite a pummeling in her bid to save The Doctor, is she alright?

Well before we get into the story, let me share a wee little secret with you all.

Didja hear this little rumor?

They say that toys have souls of their own, even if we don't see them, those that care about their toys give them their souls.

The Doctor makes toys for a living now, and he makes toys that seem to be almost alive, is it possible that he somehow gave life to his wooden creations? Or is there another secret to their actions and how they seem to walk and talk all on their own.

Well, you'll find out soon enough, because I just need a bit of a refresher before we get started.

You all go ahead and settle in for the night, because you're all about to hear the continuation of last night's story.

Tonight's story is Doctor Whooves: Legacies of the Toymaker.


	2. Chapter 1 - Doctor's Plan B

Chapter 1 – Doctor's Plan B

=Luna's PoV, Four Hours after Doctor's Capture=

"Where is that report from The Canterlot Clinic?" Luna shouted as she finished reading another report about a massive influx of injured ponies requiring medical attention.

"Right here your majesty!" A Unicorn guard shouted as he ran into the throne room, a pair of scrolls levitating next to him.

"Finally, now where is that diagnosis from Doctor Hoofer?" Luna asked as she took the scrolls and opened the first one and began reading it.

"He still says that there is no physical explanation for the cause or reasoning behind this phenomenon." An Earth pony guard shouted as he entered.

"That's what the last four Doctors I asked said." Luna said to herself as she read the list of Pegasus names that have been admitted for serious injuries, among them was the name she was looking for.

Wife to Doctor Hooves and mother of Dinky Doo Hooves and Sparkler Hooves, Ditzy Hooves had been admitted into the Canterlot Clinic for multiple broken wing bones and serious internal abdomen trauma from repeated extreme pressure. It was a pathetic way of saying she was badly injured while protecting her husband.

The moment they got to Ditzy after the Doctor's kidnapping they checked her condition, she was barely breathing and her wings were bent at odd angles. Luna ordered her to be picked up and levitated to the nearest Clinic and be admitted there with all haste. None of her Pegasus guards or either of the Element Bearers, Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy, could use their wings and thus it was an agonizingly long time before they could deliver her to the clinic for emergency treatment.

The moment she entered the clinic all the ponies that COULD bow did so, and she stepped forward to speak to the head Doctor and ordered that Ditzy Hooves be given immediate medical attention. She said that the mare was to be given the same royal care that she and Princess Celestia would be given if either of them had to receive immediate attention. Seconds later she was taken into the ER, and there she had stayed until this report arrived, stating what the condition of her admittance was. If she wanted to learn if she was recovering or her life was in peril, Luna would have to go back to find out what her fate was.

"At least we can ensure that his request for his family will be honored." Luna said as she picked up the expenses that were being charged for the care Ditzy was receiving by Royal Order.

After half an hour of searching by her guards, The Doctor's filly Dinky was discovered wandering around the guest rooms, looking for her big sister and mother. She was crying as she asked the guards for her father, and Sparkler begged Luna to look after Dinky while she went to the Hospital to check up on her mother's condition. Luna instantly said she would treat Dinky as her own filly if that was what Sparkler asked, and saw to it that Dinky was given the best care possible, providing her a wonderful meal and her own set of toys to play with while they awaited word on her mother.

"All of this for one pony… is she so blinded by fury that she doesn't care for the lives of the innocent?" Luna whispered as she tried to fathom such impossible fury, and wondered how anypony could possibly contain it.

She had only seen just the last moments of her battle, but she had seen the results of what happened when anypony tried to get in her way. Ditzy's wings were broken in ways that Luna could never have imagined, and her stomach area looked like it had been bucked like the trees that Applejack tended to when apple picking season came around. She was barely breathing when they got to her, and now Luna hoped that she had arrived just in time to receive the medical attention she desperately needed.

However it wasn't just Ditzy that seemed in need of medical attention, it seemed like every Pegasus in all of Canterlot was trying to get in. Several were suffering from broken wings and leg injuries when they had suddenly fallen from the air. Others were complaining about their wings not working, while others still poured in, suffering from possibly fatal injuries as they had fallen from greater heights while carrying out their duties. Many Pegasus guards were also being admitted into the clinics and hospitals of Canterlot, and Luna was swamped by officials and messages from various clinics about the epidemic taking place.

She knew that the whole cause for this epidemic was because of The Professor and whatever she had done. Somehow, like she did with the metal balls that assaulted Luna and any other Unicorn pony in their range with pure sound; she had used something that was preventing her and any Pegasus pony from using their wings to fly. Not only was she preventing them from flying, she had seriously injured and badly wounded the majority of all the Pegasi in the whole city. All of this suffering, just to ensure that she could escape with The Doctor.

"Doctor… how could this have happened?" She whispered as she read the second list and saw just how serious the epidemic was; as the names on the scroll were crammed together just to fit it. "We never imagined that you… could ever fall before us…"

At first Luna could not believe that any pony, or indeed any being for that matter, could possibly defeat The Doctor. All these years that she had known him, and even longer then her elder sister Celestia knew him, the image of his being unstoppable and unbeatable had been imprinted on their minds. They knew that no matter what the situation was, they could always depend on him being able to timely enter the scene and rescue them even in their darkest hour. He had become their greatest ally and friend in whatever struggles they would have, and he had become their greatest weapon in the battles to come.

No matter what would happen, Luna felt like she could trust her life into his care, and she knew that nothing terrible would befall her. Now that he had not only been defeated, but captured and taken away before her very eyes, she didn't know if there was anything any of them could do to stop this menace that had arrived on their soil.

"What can we do to stop her… how can we possibly save him when he couldn't defeat her even with our help?" Luna whispered as she looked at an earlier report from the Celestia Hospital for Emergency Care, which told an even worse story then the Canterlot Clinic.

Just two hours after the Doctor's capture, Sparkler had approached her after waiting for word on her mother and learned that it would be a long time before they could divulge anything. She had requested her audience, along with other officials throughout the city, and requested permission to join the rescue team that was going to be sent after her father. Luna however told her that nopony, or indeed any rescue team, would be going after The Professor to rescue her father.

"What?" Sparkler cried in disbelief, causing the attention of several officials to divert to her.

"You heard us Sparkler." Luna said, knowing that Sparkler was going to get very sad and very angry in the next few seconds. "We cannot send anypony after your father, because we cannot locate your father and we have no idea where his fillynapper has taken her."

"But you have to do something, my father is still alive!" Sparkler shouted. "You have to do something Princess, you're the second most powerful pony in all of Equestria, you have to…"

"We know full well of our status and capabilities Sparkler Hooves." Luna declared, drawing silence from all the ponies in the room. "However we can do nothing at this point, all of the Pegasus ponies in the entire city of Canterlot are currently unable to fly. Without the skies to aid us in our search, we have no means of tracking her as quickly as we could, and she has eluded detection from our magic's sight. Furthermore your father is not the only captive she has taken; she has also taken our elder sister!"

This outburst silenced all the ponies in the room, and Luna was aware that word of Celestia's capture would soon spread, but that didn't matter anymore. There was no way she could keep anything secret with this epidemic taking place.

"Understand us Sparkler; we would like nothing more than to search for your father, for wherever she has taken him she has also taken our sister." Luna said as tears threatened to break through. "But until we can find a cure to whatever is preventing our wings from allowing us to take flight, and until we can find some kind of lead as to their whereabouts, our hooves are tied. Please be patient for as long as you possibly can, once we can find some way to break whatever is causing this epidemic, we will start sending out search and rescue parties."

Sparkler looked like she wanted to argue some more, but silently nodded and returned to the clinic where her mother was being treated without another word. So now two hours after Sparkler's little outburst Luna was still no closer to understanding what was going on. She had tried many spells on herself to try and figure out what was the matter, yet nothing she did worked.

Luna sighed as she finished reading the latest report and decided to go and check on Dinky to see if there was anything she needed. "We shall return momentarily." She told the guards and other officials as her own guards, Hawk and Owl, took up positions behind her and followed her to the Guest Quarter, where she had left Dinky with the toys that she had purchased for her own collection.

"I hope that Dinky is not crying for her father at this moment." Luna whispered as she exited the throne room and climbed the nearby staircase toward the next level.

=Dinky's PoV=

"I'm worried Mr. TomTom." Dinky said to her favorite toy as she sat down on the floor of the big room that Princess Luna had asked her to stay in until her mommy recovered in the hospital. "What do you think happened to daddy?"

She really wanted her mom and dad to comfort her and tell her that everything would be alright, but now she was all alone, her big sis was at the hospital with mommy, and daddy was gone. Not even her favorite toy Mr. TomTom could make her happy now. She hoped nothing bad had happened to daddy, that scary mare had been hurting her dad when she went downstairs, but she didn't know why she was hurting him.

Once she figured it was safe she went out of the room and started looking for her dad, but there was no sign of him. Then she started calling out to him until a couple of the guards found her crying and asking for her mom and dad and big sister. Luna tried to comfort her, but she just wasn't her mommy, so to try and cheer her up Luna let her play with all of her own toys until her mom came back.

Dinky would have loved to play with those toys, but without her family to play with them, she just couldn't find the will to play with them. So now the toys just sat there, waiting for her to play with them. One of them, the Flyby Birdy toy, kept on following her wherever she went, but she just couldn't bother playing with it because she wanted her parents and sister. After waiting for an hour for her mommy and daddy to show up, she decided to take a nap with Mr. TomTom.

Two hours later she woke up to the sound of chirping, and slowly opened her eyes to see the Flyby Birdy toy that Luna owned was still chirping, trying to get her to play with it. She ignored it and simply stared at Mr. TomTom and asked him questions, hoping that he would have the answers.

She heard some chirping behind her as she looked at Mr. TomTom, and turned to see that Flyby Birdy toy still trying to get her to play with it. "What do you want?" She asked sadly.

The toy stopped chirping and stared at her before it opened its beak and a whirling sound came from it, the same whirling sound that Mr. TomTom had done when he spoke in daddy's voice back at home. **(Dinky, if you're hearing this listen carefully!)**

"Daddy?" Dinky cried excitedly as she ran over to the toy and picked it up.

**(Dinky, listen to what I'm going to tell you, take this toy and FIND Rainbow Dash. Once you find her, tell her to push the red button on this toy's LEFT WING!)**

"Why the left wing?" She asked curiously.

**(Alright Dinky, remember, FIND RAINBOW DASH, then tell her to push the RED BUTTON on this toy's LEFT WING. Got it? Rainbow Dash, Red button, Left Wing! Hurry Dinky, time is of the essence!)**

The toy stopped whirling and closed its beak and simply watched Dinky with its small eyes. "Okay daddy, come on you two!" She said as she picked up Mr. TomTom and the other Flyby Birdy toy started flapping and following her out the door. She ran to the nearby staircase downward and began looking for Rainbow Dash, unaware that just as she ran down the staircase; another toy bird flew down from the other staircase, accompanied by a small toy that rolled around on two rubber balls and watched her leave.

=Rainbow Dash's PoV=

"Anything Twilight?" Rainbow Dash said in an annoyed voice as she watched the purple Unicorn try, probably the millionth spell of the day on her wings.

"Nope nothing, whatever is causing this is really doing a good job at hiding itself." Twilight said as she looked through a book of spells for anything she might have overlooked. "I don't understand it, it's like nothing is wrong with your wing, and yet at the same time everything that is supposed to be working isn't working."

"Well I'm glad we got that explanation out of the way!" Rainbow Dash said, frustrated at the sight of her wings still refusing to work properly.

She had just spent the last three hours letting Twilight experiment with spells on her, all of which were designed to locate abnormalities and injuries in her wings and repair them to what they were supposed to be. However everything she tried had no effect and her wings didn't change or feel any different in the slightest way.

"Oh hold your apples RD." Applejack said as she looked at a book for Twilight for any spells she hadn't tried yet. "We're doin the best we can, what you expect, an instant cure?"

"I just can't take not being able to fly!" Rainbow Dash said. "My wings are just fine, yet I can't make them move!"

"An ya think Fluttershy don't feel the same?" Applejack said. "Her wings and every other Pegasi wings aint working either."

"If only I knew what was causing this, I could probably find a spell to block it." Twilight said as she put the book down and started looking at another spell book. "Yet without knowing all I can do is just keep trying different spells until we find one that has SOME kind of effect."

"Let's hope that there's something left of my wings by the time we find one that works." Rainbow Dash said as Twilight prepared to use yet another spell.

Pinkie Pie rushed in seconds later, her usual bouncy self, followed by Fluttershy. "Oh look who we found looking for you Rainbow Dash!" She squeaked.

"Who is it?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched the door close and saw nopony walk in with them.

"Hi!" A small voice chirped from below.

They looked down and saw Doctor Whoove's filly, Dinky Doo, carrying her toy and being followed by another toy of the same type but not as decorated as her own. The Flyby Birdy series, as Rainbow Dash recalled, was one of the most interesting out of all the toys because of its ability to fly almost as high as she could. Yet it still couldn't match her speed in the air, not to mention that it could only fly so high before it returned to its filly.

"Oh hello there Dinky." Rainbow Dash said as she watched the second toy flying up to her. "How come that toy is able to fly but I can't?"

"Probably because it aint a Pegasus?" Applejack joked as the toy landed in front of Rainbow Dash.

"My daddy told me to find you and tell you to… uh…" Dinky said, pausing for a moment to remember before continuing. "Oh ya, he told me to tell you to push the red button on that toy's left wing."

"Your father told you?" Twilight asked as she looked at Dinky. "How, he's not here!"

"The toy said so!" Dinky said as she pointed at the now immobile toy.

"I don't get it, it's just a toy, all it does it chirp and fly." Twilight said as she looked at the toy now.

"You don't pay attention to toys do ya Twi." Applejack said. "The Flyby Birdy toys are able to carry messages from parents to their fillies, says so in the parent instruction notes when they get the thing in the mail. Somethin about a filly/foal protection program to keep the little buggers outa harm's way. I got one for Applebloom, and that's what I got in the instruction notes."

They all looked at Applejack for a moment before Rainbow Dash picked up the toy and flipped it over to see, just as Dinky had said, a small red button under its left wing. "Red button on its left wing you said?" She asked as she pushed the button. A moment later the back split open and a small antenna poked out and the toy's beak opened up and said in the Doctor's voice.

"**Activating scanners, beginning level three sound amplitude modulation scan." **It said.

"What did it say?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Sometin about a sound modulator scan thingamajig?" Applejack said confused.

"**Scan complete, detecting a class five sound wave being broadcast within a twenty-five mile radius of this unit's current location." **It said. **"Scanners indicate that this signal is currently preventing the signal impulses from the brain from reaching the wing muscles of all Pegasus Class Ponies. Commencing level two sound wave amplitude modulation analysis for counter measures to this problem."**

"Twilight you speak science, can you translate for us?" Rarity asked.

"Well if what it says is anything that I can understand, apparently it knows what's going on." Twilight said as she watched the toy bird. "I didn't know it could do this, Applejack did you know?"

"No ah didn't." Applejack said in surprise. "This is way outa my books Twi."

"**Analysis complete, counter measure possible, deploying counter sound wave." **It said after a few minutes. **"This unit is currently transmitting an anti-sound wave that is counteracting the effect of the class five sound wave being broadcast, this counter sound wave only affects an area of six feet. For a more permanent solution, please locate and discontinue the sound wave being broadcast."**

"I don't feel any different." Rainbow Dash said as she tried to use her wings again.

"Try picking it up and holding it!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

"Worth a try." Twilight said.

"Alright I suppose." Rainbow Dash said as she picked up the toy, but she didn't feel any different. "No idea what it's supposed to do, am I supposed to be feeling anything?"

"RD, look at your wings!" Applejack shouted.

Rainbow Dash looked at her wings and saw that they were moving again. "Alright!" She shouted happily as she put the toy down, but the moment she did her wings stopped working and folded back up again. "Hey why did they stop working again?"

"I guess the toy fixed whatever was wrong with your wings RD." Applejack said as she picked up the toy and handed it to Fluttershy to see the same effect happen to her wings as well. "Whatever is causing your wings to not work, this toy is blocking it and letting you do your things."

"Give me a break, so I have to walk around with this thing if I'm going to fly again?" Rainbow Dash said as she took the toy back and watched her wings work properly.

**(Hello, Rainbow Dash, this is the Doctor!) **The toy suddenly said.

"Wait what?" Twilight said as they all looked at the toy now.

**(No time to explain, this thing only has a recording length of five minutes, for now just accept that this is Plan B, or as I call it my failsafe plan, just in case I can't beat my opponent, this toy is designed to work depending on what it's scans indicate is going on.)**

"Wow, this thing really can talk." Rarity said in an impressed place.

**(Listen up RD, if you're listening, then no doubt one of the pony species, Earth, Unicorn, or Pegasus, are being affected by something. Because it's this Flyby Birdy toy that is talking to you, then most likely it's something related to sound. Right now this toy is sending out a signal that is blocking whatever the sound is doing."**

"Well that's a good way to simplify things." Applejack said.

**(No doubt the reason this toy is playing this message is because I was defeated. In which case depending on how much time has passed since my capture, there is no trace remaining for the current toys to be able to track me. RD, you have to take my daughter Dinky, back to my home and look for… ah crud there's no more space.)**

"Oh how much space is there?" Pinkie Pie asked eagerly.

**(Take Dinky, take Mr. TomTom, go to my home, Time is of the essence, GO!)**

The toy closed its beak and remained still.

"Why does he need me to take Dinky back to her home to look for something?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stared at the toy.

"Probably because you're the fastest Pegasus around, and right now you're the only Pegasus in Canterlot able to fly thanks to this toy." Twilight said. "If it has something to do with sound then no magic I know of can affect sound. If this toy can only protect one pony from whatever is causing this, then that means you're the only one able to fly in Canterlot. But what the toy said gives me an idea; it said something about this affecting a twenty five mile radius from this spot, I think I can calculate the exact location of what is causing this."

"Darling your genius is showing again." Rarity said. "But can you please stop with the math, it's hurting my head."

"Uh hello, I think the Doc was trying to get us to hurry up." Applejack said as she picked up Dinky and put her on Rainbow Dash's back. "Now you hold on tight Dinky, and RD, you keep that little filly safe ya hear?"

"Okey dokey!" Dinky said nervously as she clutched Mr. TomTom next to her and held on tightly as Rainbow Dash started walking.

"Alright, let's get going." Rainbow Dash said as she flapped her wings to make sure they were working. Then she ran out the room and down the corridor, heading for the nearest balcony. Moments later she and Dinky were airborne and speeding toward Dinky's house. Rainbow Dash had no idea what was going on, or why she had to bring Dinky and this toy there, but if would get Princess Celestia and Dinky's father back, she was willing to do whatever it took.

=Luna's PoV=

"Where did she go?" Luna said as she looked around for Dinky but saw no trace of her. According to the thoughts of her two guards, Owl and Hawk, neither of them could find her either. "Where could she have gone, there's no way she could have left without going through the throne room."

Moments later Luna felt the probing thought of Owl as he urgently tried to get her attention.

"Yes Owl what is it?" She said as she checked the room where she had been staying again.

_-Your majesty, there's a pair of toys in the middle of the central room, one of them is a flying type.- _He said.

Luna bolted from the room and looked at the spot where Owl was talking about, sure enough there were two toys sitting in the middle of the room and looking at her. One of them was the Flyby Birdy series, the second was known as the HidenSeek Car series that the Doctor had created, but wasn't as popular as the rest of his creations. It got around using two rubber balls under its body and was designed to hide from fillies and foals. However it was so good at hiding that most times nopony could find it, it also had an annoying habit of being able to locate its filly or foal with no trouble.

"We recognize those two toys… they belong to our sister Celestia." Luna said. "What are they doing down here…"

As soon as she spoke the bird toy's back opened and a small antenna poked up, its beak opened as well and a small whirling sound came out, followed by a mechanical version of The Doctor's voice.

**(Hello Luna, sorry for this little show, but I had to prepare a backup plan in case Plan A didn't work.)**

Luna's heart stopped at those words, and she went from being without hope and completely unsure of what to do, to being ecstatic and full of courage. _–He had a backup plan, oh Doctor you are AMAZING!-_

**(Listen up because I only have about four minutes and thirty seconds of recording time for this toy, I really need to update their memory so they can record more messages.)**

Luna listened intently as she heard the Doctor talk about the toy's capabilities.

**(This toy is currently sending out a signal that is blocking whatever is preventing Pegasus, Unicorns, or Earth ponies from doing whatever they do. The signal is most likely sound related because this toy is picking it up and blocking the signal. The second toy is programmed to locate the source of the signal and track it down, get one of your guards to take both toys and fly outside of the city and follow the second toy to the source.)**

"Hawk you heard him, take the toys and do what he's saying." Luna ordered, to which Hawk nodded and went to pick up the toys.

**(Also, your other Flyby Birdy toy will have located Dinky and told her to go with Rainbow Dash to find my Tardis, I didn't have time to tell them what to look for, but expect the Tardis to land sometime inside the Throne Room. Get Sparkler wherever she is and get her to the Throne Room and KEEP HER THERE. I know it sounds mean, but DO WHATEVER IT TAKES to keep Sparkler inside the throne room. If my plan works, then there will be a way for you to locate me, and through me your sister Celestia. Wish me luck, because my backup plan is not exactly fool proof, and this is coming from a fool by the way. Oh one last thing, please explain to Sparkler who I am, otherwise the next few hours will be just a LITTLE difficult on her.)**

Hawk picked up the toys and instantly his wings started flapping, seconds later he was airborne and flew out the broken glass of the room that the Doctor was throne. Luna and Owl watched as he left and both had the same thought.

_-How does he do this?-_

Seconds later Twilight and the other element bearers with the exception of Rainbow Dash ran up the staircase that led to the throne room level. "Princess Luna!" Twilight said breathlessly. "Rainbow Dash has taken Dinky to…"

"We know, The Doctor already informed us of the situation and one of my guards has begun to take care of the situation." Luna said as she started walking to the throne room. "We must locate and collect Sparkler from the hospital and keep her in the throne room now."

"Wait… you already know?" Twilight said incredibly. "But how, we just got the message a few moments ago."

"If there is anything thou can count on Twilight Sparkle." Luna said as she led the way down the stairs. "It is that The Doctor is never outsmarted more than once, also that he always has a backup plan for whatever plan he happens to think up. Moments ago two toys approached me and my guards and one of them informed us that The Doctor had sent Rainbow Dash and his young filly to locate his Tardis and bring it here. He also requested that we locate Sparkler as soon as possible and keep her in the throne room."

"Why do we need to bring Sparkler here?" Twilight asked. "Also what's a Tardis?"

"We are not sure why, but The Doctor told us that it was all part of his backup plan." Luna said. "We do not know exactly why he requires Sparkler here but we suppose it has something to do with his daughter locating his Tardis. As for what a Tardis is Twilight that is a little harder for us to explain. Once you see it we will be able to explain it in greater detail."

As they all entered the Throne and soon exited it, Luna wondered what the Doctor's plan was.


	3. Chapter 2 - Prisoner's Cries

Chapter Two – Prisoner's Cries

=Celestia's PoV, One hour and thirty minutes after Doctor's capture=

Celestia listened intently as she put her ear next to the door as she heard the sound of her captor approaching her room.

Just an hour ago she had watched her captor walk by her door, carrying an unconscious Doctor on her back, battered and bruised. She didn't even pay her the slightest attention as she walked by Celestia's shocked expression as she wordlessly tried to get The Doctor's attention.

She could not believe what she had just seen; surely The Doctor was pretending to be unconscious, it had to be merely a ploy to gain access to his enemy's Tardis to attempt to rescue her. Nopony has ever defeated The Doctor, nothing across the galaxy had ever triumphed against him, and most of the time he was alone, sometimes with his assistant but even then he was unbeatable. He had the assistance of her sister, the Elements of Harmony, as well as anything else her sister could have gathered in the twenty four hours since yesterday.

The Doctor had always emerged triumphant against his opponents, never once overpowered and captured by his enemies. She couldn't believe, and even refused to believe, that he was anything short of invincible.

Now she was waiting to see if she would be allowed to see The Doctor, because until she saw him she refused to believe that he had been defeated.

A minute later, her door opened and her captor walked through, wearing a smug look on her face as she looked at Celestia's worried expression. "Well here I am Princess Celestia." She said in an amused tone. "I have returned much earlier than I anticipated, thanks to the fact that I anticipated every move he came up with. Therefore I didn't have to go through a three hour long battle like I had planned, so I was able to take my prize and return. Which now leaves me with the one small little issue of how to deal with you."

"What do you mean?" Celestia whispered nervously.

"Since I captured The Doctor, I have what I wanted." She said as she walked out of the doorway and pointed to it. "You are free to go now; I did say that I have no harmful intentions toward you or any of your subjects or indeed any of your species. Therefore you can leave and return to your subjects, and I will not bother with your kind again."

However Celestia refused to budge toward the open door, instead she stared determinedly at her former captor. "Take me to see him." She said

"Excuse me?" Her captor said.

"I refuse to believe that you defeated The Doctor, I want to see him for myself." Celestia said. "I refuse to leave without seeing him personally, so take me to see him right now."

Her captor thought for a moment before she smiled and walked out the door. "Very well, if it inspires you to leave, follow me."

So Celestia followed her captor through the hallway of her Tardis toward the lower sections, where she hadn't been allowed to enter before. She looked around interestedly at her surroundings and saw just why she wasn't allowed down here. The walls were rusted and dark, as though they hadn't been tended to in centuries. Dust caked the walls and looked inches thick in some places, and she could faintly smell the scent of century old rusted metal. She could feel a presence as she walked closer to wherever her captor was leading her, and that presence did not like her one little bit.

After a few minutes they exited into a large room and Celestia gasped in horror at what she was seeing. "By the celestial bodies…" She whispered. The Doctor was restrained in midair by metal chains linked to the ceiling and holding his front hooves to keep him elevated above the floor, his rear hooves were also restrained by chains and they bound him tightly to the floor. He was restrained around his waist by chains as well, and the metal clamp was so tight that it looked like he was being squeezed like a crushed grape.

The Doctor himself was covered in bruises and a few cuts, most of the bruises were in his stomach and leg regions, his face had a few cuts as well as shards of glass being stuck in his coat and mane. Blood trickled gently from his cut wounds, and he was breathing slowly. Still he managed to open his eyes just enough to let her know he was able to see her, as well as show he was still alive and conscious.

"He gave me quite a struggle let me tell you." The mare said as she moved closer. "He really gave me a run for my money, but nothing was going to stop me. He first tried to overpower me in hoof to hoof combat, and then he tried to use some magic your sister possesses along with the Elements of Harmony. Then he tried to trick me with some sonic weapon, and we fought using Mind over Matter techniques. Yet after all his efforts, in the end, it came down to whether or not his desire to protect you ponies was greater than my desire to get revenge against him."

She looked over at Celestia and laughed with mirth. "You can clearly see that my desire was greater than his. He was trying to protect your species from me, yet I have no interest one way or another in you quadrupeds, so he really had no chance against me when push came to shove. How does one protect a species when that species is not in any danger? It's quite a lovely little problem that cannot be solved if I do say so myself, which brings me to one last issue to solve."

She turned to look at Celestia. "Why are you still here, why don't you go back to your little kingdom now and leave me with what I came for?" She said questioningly.

"What do you intend to do to him?" Celestia asked.

"What I planned to do to him for nearly nine hundred and fifty seven years." She said as she stared at The Doctor. "I'm going to first torture him for destroying our planet at the end of the Great Time War. Once I've satisfied myself with his screams of pain, I'll heal his wounds and then make him suffer for destroying nearly every member of our species and driving us to the brink of extinction. After that I plan to repeat the cycle and then torture him to the brink of insanity for daring to mate and procreate with a female member of a substandard species… then I plan to let him hang an inch away from death, and sever those final strings as I finish my preparations for a plan I've been working on for seven regenerations. Then I'll kill him."

"You can't do that to him, he has a mare and two fillies!" Celestia cried. "You can't destroy his family; they depend on him so much!"

"WHY SHOULDN'T I DESTROY HIS FAMILY?" She roared at Celestia as her eyes burned with fire again. "He destroyed my home, my family, and the lives of families of all the Time Lords he killed. He's destroyed millions of other families, ruined the lives of countless others, and affected the destinies of more than I can imagine! Why shouldn't I destroy his family, his life, affect the lives of those who know him? After all he has done with his life; I say it's time for a little payback by the galaxy!"

Celestia backed away from her captor as she roared in anger, but still refused to surrender The Doctor to his fate. "Let me speak to him for a moment." She requested.

"Why should I, oh Princess Celestia of Equestria?" She said.

"Because I won't leave here without him, and if I am going to watch him suffer and die, I want to make sure that I am close by for his final hours." Celestia said quietly. "I don't want him to suffer alone, with nopony knowing what happened to him, and I don't want him to spend the next hour or so with nopony to share his final moments with those who love and care about him never knowing what happened to him. His family deserves to know what kind of torture he endured for their sake! Please… let me at least let him know that he will not be alone in his final moments."

The mare looked between Celestia and The Doctor before she finally sighed in anger and turned to leave. "You have exactly fifteen minutes to say your condolences." She said. "That is how long it is going to take me to get my necessary tools for what I'm going to do. So say what you have to say and be ready to hear screams coming from this room. Once I come back I will escort you BACK to your room, and you will remain there until further notice."

Celestia watched her leave and waited for her to be out of ear shot before she walked over to the Doctor and used her magic to heal what cuts and bruises she could. "Are you alright Doctor?" She whispered as she looked into his tired and weary eyes.

"I've been… better let me tell you…" He said tiredly. "How are you… holding up Tia?"

"Could be better if I had some sunlight in my prison room." She said as she tried to laugh at the nickname he used to talk to her. "Still calling me Tia I see, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to let off a bit of humor."

"Well I'm not exactly… in a good position… at the moment…" He said as he feebly tried to move his hooves. "So… how's the food… is it better than my wife's cooking?"

"Not really Doctor, I prefer your wife's food over my captor's." Celestia said as she finished healing the last injury she could. "Tell me Doctor and speak honestly, is this some part of your plan to rescue me and get away?"

The Doctor tried laughing but all he could manage was a coughing rasp. "If it is… then this is probably… the worst way to rescue you Tia…" He said. "You should really just go back to Canterlot and… forget about me…"

"No way Doctor, you never abandoned me or left me to die and I will never let you suffer this mare's torture alone!" She said as she started preparing her magic to cast a spell she had never used before. "I will do whatever I can to help ease your suffering but I must be quick, this spell will take time to perform but I must make it work. I'm right in assuming that helpful magic can affect a Time Lord's body correct while harmful magic is useless?"

"Yes… but what are you…" He said as he watched her horn glowing.

"I'm going to cast a spell that will link our two bodies together." She said as she concentrated on the spell. "It will allow me to share and alleviate a good portion of the pain you feel, and will allow me to see what you see for brief periods. I can endure half of your pain, and through me I can give you the strength to endure this torture until help can arrive."

"You… can't…" He tried to say, but the chains restricted his breathing.

"I can and I will Doctor." Celestia said as she looked at him with saddened eyes. "You have endured more than your fair share of pain in this life. I will not allow her to take your life without doing something to prevent it. Besides you aren't exactly in a position to stop me are you?"

He smiled and tried to laugh but all he could manage was a cough again. "Well… when you put it that way." He whispered.

Five minutes later Celestia finished her spell and she could already feel the pain he was feeling because of injuries that she couldn't see. She closed her eyes and instantly saw herself through his eyes, what she also saw amazed her. She could see countless small golden strings winding this way and that way, twisting and turning all around her. She could see a few strings connecting themselves between her and him. She figured this is what it must be like to look through the eyes of a Time Lord.

The strings that she saw moved around constantly, never staying still for even the briefest moment. She lifted her hoof and the strands started weaving around it several times before they moved up and around her neck, then to her heard before they swirled around her body. They formed shapes and loops all the time, each time one string bumped into another they intertwined and separated again before bumping into each other again and repeating the process. The sight alone was beautiful enough to draw tears of happiness. She felt like she could have stared at the strings for hours without ever comprehending even a fraction of what they were doing.

_-Yep, that is what I see every day Tia.-_ She heard him thinking as she opened her eyes again and saw the world through her own eyes.

"What are those strings?" She asked curiously.

"Those are the strands of time, which weave around every individual." He said, talking more clearly now but still having trouble breathing. "The more significant the individual and the older they are, the larger and more elaborate the strands become as they encircle and wrap themselves around the individual. They connect individuals together based on their own personal connections to each other, the stronger the string and more there are connecting the individual, the greater the bond. If a certain number are connected between two individuals, then they weave together to create an even stronger strand connecting the two. The two can then feel what the other is feeling as naturally as though they were the same individual. That's sort of the connection I have with my filly Dinky, she feels whatever I feel whenever I'm in pain or in some kind of distress. I only just realized that she and I have that connection recently, I really feel sad for what she may feel very soon."

"What of your wife, does she have this… bond as well with you or Dinky?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Well Derpy and I have a connection as well; she and I have several strands connecting us." He said. "However before the strands could coalesce into a larger one, Dinky was born and several of them connected to her, and thus connected to both of us. Dinky has the same connection with her mother as she does with me; she feels the same thing Derpy feels when she's in pain or in distress."

"And my bond with you Doctor… how many strings are there connecting us?" She asked curiously.

"We're close friends, nothing more." He said.

"Since we are alone, for a brief moment more anyway, may we speak honestly with you Doctor?" Celestia asked.

"Not exactly, much else for us to do at the moment." He said.

"Well I just want you to know Doctor, and don't take this the wrong way." She said seriously. "I've always had little fantasies about you and me being Stallion and Mare. I've often pictured myself as Dinky's and Sparkler's mother, don't get me wrong I have nothing but respect and admiration for you, and I treasure my friendship with you above all else. However I just wanted to let you know how I've often thought about you."

"Heh… I have that effect on mare's it seems." He joked. "Should have seen the Element Bearer's before I showed up, Rarity was practically drooling over me. Derpy had to put her hoof down when she and the others started ogling me."

"Knowing your wife, she would definitely let all the other mares know who has your hoof in marriage." Celestia joked as she used her magic to try and loosen the chains even a little bit, if nothing else but to make him more comfortable. "I promise you Doctor, I will find some way to reunite you with your wife and fillies. This mare will not take you away from them if I have anything to say about it."

"I hope so Tia… because I have a small ray of light… if it works then we can count on rescue." He whispered. "I just hope… you can endure the pain for… as long as possible…"

Celestia would have said more but then she heard the sound of a cart rattling on metal toward the room and turned to watch as her captor walked into the room, pulling a metal cart which carried a variety of instruments. She had no idea what those tools were designed to do, but she knew that they were going to be as painful as she could possibly make them.

"Alright your fifteen minutes are up Princess; follow me because I don't feel like wasting much time." She said as she stood by the entrance to the room.

Celestia wanted to remain but knew that she could do no more for him, so she gave him one final reassuring glance before allowing her captor to lead the way back to her room. Minutes later she was sealed inside the room and cast one more spell as her captor left, which would prevent any sound from leaving her room. With that spell in place, she lay down on the bed and braced herself to endure the pain and suffering The Doctor was sure to be forced to feel.

She closed her eyes and instantly saw the room through his eyes as he followed their captor enter the room and pull out a small syringe needle. "So Doctor here we are at last… you and me… all alone." She said as she walked toward him slowly. "I'm going to enjoy this with a passion."

She took the needle and pierced his side with it, injecting some kind of liquid into him, instantly everything seemed to slow down, even the air he breathed seemed still. "What are you…" The Doctor whispered in pain.

"A little concoction that I created in my spare time, tell me what do you think of it?" The mare said through a grin. "This little piece I made actually forces a Time Lord to enter the Mind over Matter state, as you can clearly see, we are both in the Mind over Matter state. However while you were forced to enter it because of my little potion here, I have entered it of my own volition. The difference is that I can maintain this willingly for hours upon hours on end. You will not be able to exit it until one hour of normal time has passed. This gives us one hour… to enjoy ourselves."

"You…" The Doctor tried to say but at that moment she grabbed a metal rod and poked him in the rear leg with one of the glowing ends.

The pain he felt was excruciating, and the pain that The Doctor felt was merely half of what he would have felt. The other half was transferred to Celestia, who writhed in agony along with him. She could feel her leg being burned and felt her body twist and convulse in pain. She felt his pain and it took every ounce of her self-control to prevent her from severing the link between the two of them.

Moments later the pain stopped and she gasped at the short reprieve from the torture. However it was extremely short because a second later she watched through her closed eyes as the mare took the other end and jabbed the same spot again.

Celestia's leg felt like it was being burned from the inside out by the very rays of her own sun. The burning sensation alone felt like it was destroying her, but it wasn't just the burning sensation she was feeling, she could feel jabs of pain as though she were being pierced by razor sharp needles the size of spears.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" The Doctor screamed in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Celestia cried alongside him, forcing herself to endure the pain with him. For this was merely half of what he was feeling, and if he could be willing to endure the whole thing, she would absorb half if it was the last she could do.

The pain subsided momentarily and she watched through The Doctor's eyes as the mare put the metal rod down on the cart and picked up a small device. She put it to the spot she had jabbed and Celestia felt wonderful relief course through her leg. "Oh don't worry Doctor; I'm not doing this out of kindness." She heard the mare say in a sinister voice. "I just want to feel the pleasure of watching you squirm as I jab you again, and again, and again! Let's continue where we left off shall we?"

The mare picked the metal rod again and poked his other rear leg, on his cutie mark this time. Celestia screamed in agony along with the Doctor as he felt the unbearable pain of his cutie mark being burned and singed. Moments later the pain stopped, only to be resumed as the mare poked the other end of the rod on his cutie mark.

"AAAAAAAH!" The Doctor cried.

"MAKE IT STOOOOOOP!" Celestia screamed desperately as she rolled around on the bed, feeling her own cutie mark burning in agony.

The pain ended again as the mare picked up the device she had used before to soothe the wound on his other leg to soothe the pain he was feeling from his cutie mark. They both felt the pain end and Celestia braced herself for another wave as the mare picked up the metal rod and began working on his front leg now.

She alternated from hoof to hoof, first going clockwise from his left rear leg and ending with his front left leg. Then she went counter clockwise, starting with his front right leg and ending with his rear right leg. After she finished going counter clockwise the mare just started jabbing the rod at different legs at random. When she got bored poking his legs in specific spots she would start poking him in different spots, from his hooves to his thighs, to the leg joints and other spots.

Each and every time she burned a spot she would fix the damage with that strange device, only to resume her torture and begin damaging another section of his body. She smiled as she watched The Doctor writhing in agony, twisting and turning as much as the chains holding him would permit. She laughed as he begged for mercy, mocked him as he screamed the name of his wife and daughters. She asked him if he could hear the sounds of his family crying in sadness at the sight of him being tortured and unable to do anything to stop it.

Celestia screamed in pain as she felt herself being tortured, every second seemed to take minutes as she waited for the pain to end, only to be renewed again. She wished that she hadn't cast that spell which bound her to The Doctor's pain, she screamed at herself, yelling and raging at how stupid she was. She cried and begged herself to end the spell, to spare her the agony of the pain The Doctor was feeling, but still she resisted that simple solution and merely endured more pain. Soon all she could do was twist in the bed and scream as she felt the pain he felt, unable to alleviate it anymore, but unable to heal his wounds herself. She merely endured the pain, waiting for it to end.

Finally after an eternity she felt one final wave of soothing relief and watched through The Doctor's eyes as she put the device down before picking up the metal rod again. She smiled such a cruel smile, that Celestia wondered if she had become devoid of any mercy, or was merely something of pure cruelty and malice.

"Only fifty nine minutes, fifty nine seconds, and Twenty seven milliseconds to go… Doctor." She giggled as she spun the metal rod and pointed one end toward his chest now.

Celestia thought she was going insane, surely she couldn't have heard what she had heard. The Doctor felt no emotions as she moved the rod closer, but Celestia was practically begging herself to end the spell before the mare continued with the torture. _–No way… not even a SECOND has passed?-_ She thought. _–You have to end it you stupid mare, you cannot take this pain for that long. By all that is good and honest Princess Celestia, END THE SPELL BEFORE YOU GO MAD!-_

However Celestia refused to listen to her fear, instead she waited for the rod to poke The Doctor's chest and screamed in pain alongside him. She would force herself to endure the pain, if he had the will to endure it, she would endure every second with him. She just hoped that there would be enough left of her mind to continue enduring the pain after this hour of torture ended.

Finally, she felt her sense of time returning to normal after a normal hour of time ended. She was only faintly aware of the pain of the Doctor's body as he gasped for breath and remained calm, which was certainly more than what she was able to do at the moment. It was taking every ounce of control she had to maintain her link to him after one hour of torture. She tried to prepare herself for another round of torture when she felt his fear across their link. She closed her eyes and saw through his eyes, and witnessed the last moments of normal time before she was once again, forced to enter the Mind over Matter state with him.

However what she saw and heard made her try to force the door open, but there was no hope of escape now… the door would not open for at least an hour.

=The Doctor's PoV, One Hour Later=

The Doctor felt himself exit the Mind over Matter state and return to his normal sense of time. He could also feel that Celestia had maintained her link to him throughout that hour, and although he couldn't hear thoughts as she could hear his, he hoped that she was still alright. He watched The Professor examine her tools of torture and rearrange them for the next session.

"Tell me Doctor was that the longest hour of your life?" She asked in an evil voice.

"No… that was… the second… longest hour… of my life." He moaned in agony.

"Really, and what was the longest hour may I ask?" She asked as she looked at him through cruel eyes.

"Wouldn't you… like to know…" He groaned.

"Yes I would like to know, since you're going to be here for a long time." She said.

"Fine… the longest hour… of my life… was when my first filly was being brought… into this world." He whispered as he remembered waiting outside the door to the delivery room where his wife was in. He had watched the seconds ticking by, and practically yelled at himself for leaving the Tardis back at home when he could have taken it and gone into the future. He had shut himself up moments later, saying that he would wait every second of that hour, no matter what.

"Your filly… if I recall her name was Dinky Doo Hooves." She whispered as she went back to the cart of torture devices. "You really have a connection to her don't you?"

"She's… my first filly… of course I do." He said.

"Interesting… so you endured all that torture because of her?" She whispered as she picked up another device. "If I recall correctly, she had a strong time strand connecting her to you."

"So what… if she did." He said.

"She is a very young Time Lord, to think she is the first Quadruped Time Lord ever to exist in the galaxy." She said as she put the device down and picked up another syringe needle. "I wonder if she felt the same pain you felt when I kicked you out the glass window of that room?"

"Wouldn't… know…" He whispered, not liking where this conversation was going.

"Do you wonder why I brought you down here Doctor?" She asked. "This space, in all of my Tardis, is completely isolated and prevents any being outside from making mental contact with you in any way. You would know this space as, the heart of the Tardis. It basically temporarily severs your link to your filly, and her link to you. So in other words, she will never know the pain you are suffering right now. She will also never know the moment you die… nobody will ever know that you will soon be dead down here."

"However I see now that this torture that I was planning for you is not nearly torture enough." She said as she turned to face him. "If I am truly going to make you suffer Doctor, I need to give you a sense of pain beyond anything I can give you. After all, I can make you suffer for hours on end, and you will still be as strong as you are now. Yet if I bring in a third element, a young, small, very childish element, one that is strongly linked to you that can double the pain I put you through. That will make this all the sweeter."

"No…" The Doctor whispered, praying that she wasn't going to do what she was saying.

"I think I need to reunite a father and his daughter, to make you truly suffer." She grinned as she walked toward him.

"No… NO!" He cried, pulling at his restraints. "Leave Dinky alone! Do whatever you want to me but by all the laws of time, PLEASE LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"I'm afraid you are in no position to do anything to stop me." She whispered as she prepared to inject him with the syringe again. "I'll see you in one hour Doctor."

She stuck the needle in his side and injected him with the liquid and he was forced to enter the Mind over Matter state. "NO NO NOOOOOOOOOO" He screamed as time slowed down and he watched her grinning at him as she slowly, ever so slowly stepped back. "DON'T HURT MY FILLY, PLEASE I BEG OF YOU, DON'T HURT MY FILLY! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GALIFREY AND ANYTHING YOU EVER CARE ABOUT, I BEG OF YOU LEAVE DINKY ALONE!"

He knew it was pointless, she couldn't hear him and to her, he was standing still as a picture. He was forced to watch as she step by step, walked out the door. To her it was a mere seven seconds to leave the room and walk out of sight. However to the Doctor, every step was taking hours to take, and it was an eternity as he screamed and cried, begged and prayed at the mare to leave his family alone.

His cries were met with nothing but silence, as he watched her slowly leave the room.


	4. Chapter 3 - Her Name is Tardis

Chapter 3 – Her name is Tardis

=Rainbow Dash's PoV, Four Hours Nine Minutes after Doctor's Capture=

"So what kind of toys does your dad make Dinky?" Rainbow Dash called out as she flew through the air and Dinky's home came into view. She knew where the Hooves family lived because Doctor Hooves married and moved into Ditzy Doo's home. She had known Ditzy Doo as a friend but never thought that she'd ever find that special somepony for her. She and Dinky had been flying for almost ten minutes, and she was glad to be finally able to fly on her own.

Nearly a minute after she had left Canterlot behind the toy started squawking about flying beyond its recommended speed limit, right before it started breaking apart as she flew at top speed. She had feared for a moment that she would fall to the ground, unable to fly because she had just destroyed the one thing permitting her to fly, but her wings worked just fine even after the pieces of the toy were left behind. She had wondered if Dinky's toy would be alright, but the toy remained perfectly whole and undamaged. If anything Dinky was the only one who looked like she would fall off if she didn't fly any slower.

"Daddy makes fun toys." Dinky said as she held onto her back.

"Fun huh, I'm guessing that toy you got is made of some quality wood because it's holding together better than the other one did." Rainbow Dash said as she slowed down before she came down for a landing. "What's that thing made of anyway, why did your dad give you such a special toy? Is it some kind of failsafe or special tool that he uses to keep an eye on things or something?"

"No." Dinky said as she spotted her home. "Daddy just made it because I lost my other toy. So he made Mr. TomTom for me to cheer me up."

"He made you that toy because you lost your other one?" Rainbow Dash asked as she landed in the front lawn of Ditzy's house. "What kind of other toys does he make for you?"

"You want to see them?" Dinky asked excitedly as she climbed down and Mr. TomTom started flying above her head.

"Well I guess so because I have no idea what we're supposed to be looking for." Rainbow Dash said as Dinky led the way into her family's house. She opened the door and Rainbow Dash looked around to see if she could spot whatever this 'something' that the Doctor wanted her to find. However all she saw was Ditzy's simple cottage home, wondering how her old friend could ever attract such a famous pony as The Doctor.

Her home was a small one story shack with five rooms, two bedrooms, one living room and one kitchen and finally one bathroom. There weren't any new additions to the house other than a few more books, which made Rainbow Dash wonder if he really was this alien pony that Princess Luna and Ditzy claimed he was.

"Okay Dinky wait one second I just want to look around for something." She said. She began looking around the room for anything out of the ordinary. She opened a few cupboards, pulled and checked a few of the books lying around, dug in the fireplace. Checked under the couch and looked behind shelves. Yet nothing she found was in any way alien or out of the ordinary. Giving up her search in the living room she looked in the kitchen and found nothing there either. She went into Ditzy's and The Doctor's room and looked around there as well, but the only thing she found even remotely interesting was Ditzy's diary. She didn't open it but when she picked it up and put it back a few pictures fell out, all of them were of The Doctor, circled and outlined in little hearts with messages like, "Only one day till the Big Day!"

"She really was looking forward to her wedding day." She said as she imagined how her friend would feel if she learned how Ditzy learned what happened to her husband. "Alright I can't find anything, lets go check out your toys I guess."

"This way!" Dinky said as she pulled her excitedly into the closest bedroom and she looked around to see what was there.

Dinky and Sparkler's room was split into two halves, with Dinky's half comprising of a small filly bed with several toys littering around it. Sparkler's half was a larger one adult pony sized bed with a small stack of books neatly placed next to it. The moment Dinky walked into the room all of her toys went from being lifeless to being all over the place. Some of the ones that floated or flew circles above her, while the non-flying ones walked or rolled toward her in greeting.

"How are you able to make them all move on your own Dinky?" Rainbow dash asked her as she picked up a toy in the likeness of Princess Celestia.

"I don't, they move on their own." Dinky said as she hugged her toy for a moment before she put it down and watched as a balloon-like toy floated above her and dropped a rubber ball at her hooves. "Dad says they do all of this on their own."

Rainbow Dash watched as Dinky showed each of her toys to her, she picked each one up and told her what each one was called. She called the WalknTalk Celestia toy, Celestia. The Basketball Blimp toy she called Boopyball. She named each toy funny names for whatever reason she had, but Rainbow Dash marveled at how much love Dinky had for each of them. To her they were just strange toys that seemed to be running on magic, but to Dinky they were special, priceless gems that she would never want to part with.

The toys themselves seemed eager to do whatever they could to make her happy. The Celestia toy recited moral values for her to remember, saying things like, "A friend in need is a friend indeed." It also told her wonderful little sayings like, "Friendship is magic, and there is no magic more powerful than that."

Some of the toys she had, like her flying bird toy Mr. TomTom merely chirped and sang songs as she spoke to them in their own way. The toys that couldn't talk or speak to her in some verbal way made their pleasure known by circling her constantly. They performed tricks like figure eights and little dances with their wooden legs. Dinky laughed as she watched them do their little routines and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but smile and laugh as well at the toy's antics. They seemed to get such pleasure in making her and Dinky laugh that when Rainbow joined in they started performing more tricks for her.

"I see why your father's toys are so liked now." She said as she watched the Celestia to do a perfect backflip onto a small toy that she recognized as the HideNSeek toy car. "They just never seem to tire with making you laugh. How does he make these toys do that?"

"Daddy knows I like watching them do tricks when I don't play with them on their own." Dinky said as she picked up the rubber ball the floating balloon toy dropped for her earlier and threw it into its basket.

Rainbow watched them for a few more minute before she remembered why she and Dinky were in her family's home. "Dinky does your dad keep anything in the house that is off limits?" Rainbow Dash asked her suddenly. "Anything you're not supposed to touch, anything small or big or… you know important?"

Dinky looked around for a moment, thinking carefully about the question before she shook her head. "Only thing I'm not allowed to touch is the oven." She said.

"Great, so we have no idea what we're looking for." Rainbow Dash said annoyed as she looked out the window. She saw the lone tree in the backyard and wondered what kind of spell Sparkler or Dinky could have used to make that tree green and healthy all year round. Nothing Twilight ever found had ever been able to keep a tree healthy all on its own. She had heard from Twilight that the Hooves garden tree was green all year around, and it was that way because their two Unicorn children were practicing magic on it.

"Hey Dinky, what kind of spell did you and Sparkler do to that tree?" She asked curiously.

"We didn't do anything to it." Dinky said as she used her magic to levitate the ball into the basket this time.

"Wait, you two didn't practice magic on that tree to make it green and healthy all the time?" She asked.

"No, I only know how to make a ball float into the air." Dinky said as she watched her blimp toy float away as it dropped the rubber ball for her to toss again. "Big sister knows more magic, but she only knows how to hold things in the air while she helps mommy cook dinner."

"So there has been no magic used on that tree by you or your sister?" She asked amazed. "No way… it couldn't be that simple." She said as she turned and looked at the tree again.

There was silence as Rainbow Dash looked at the tree, wondering if the answer to what The Doctor had told her to look for was probably right outside the window. But she noticed something was off when the sounds of the toy's antics suddenly stopped sounding. She looked at the toys and saw they were all staring at the wall to their left, looking up at as though seeing something in the air. Dinky however wasn't looking because she was busy chasing the floating balloon toy as it dropped the rubber ball for her again.

Rainbow heard the sound of something in the air outside, and wondered what was going on when she remembered what she was hearing. The sound of something roaring in the air, and the sound was getting louder by the second. She recognized it as the sound of whatever that flying machine was that The Professor had used to escape from Canterlot.

"Dinky stay here for a moment." She said calmly.

"Okay." Dinky said curiously.

Rainbow left the room and ran toward the front door and cracked the door open enough to see outside. She saw that The Professor was indeed outside and making a beeline for Ditzy's house, coming in for landing on the front lawn. She was in complete shock as she watched the mare land on the front lawn; her large black metal wings extended twice her body length on either side. Her hooves landed heavily on the ground and she tapped something on her chest and the wings folded up and fell away, taking the form of a segmented metal black ball. She then made a strange chirping noise and watched as a wooden bird flew from the nearby field and landed in front of her.

"State the species of the entities that have entered the area in the past thirty minutes." She said to the bird.

The metal bird opened its beak and said in a strange mechanical voice. **(Two Gaia native species entered the area approximately nineteen minutes and twenty four seconds ago.)** It said.

"Describe the species identification." She said in a bored voice.

**(There was one Pegasus class pony, and one unicorn class pony.) **It said in the same voice.

"Was there any trace of a Time Lord Energy Signature, matching the recorded Time Lord Energy Signature in your database?" She asked.

**(Affirmative, there was an identical sixty four percent match to the Time Energy Signature in my database.) **It stated.

"I see… thank you your services are no longer required." She said as she took a hoof and flattened the woosen toy beneath her.

She looked up at the house and smiled. "I know you're in there, there's no point in trying to hide from me." She said in a cynical voice as she pulled a small metal rod out and pointed it at the door and pushed something on it. The door was flung open on its own as Rainbow Dash jumped back in surprise.

"Ah, so they sent you Rainbow Dash, bearer of the Element of Loyalty." She said in a mocking tone. "Tell me, where is the spawn of The Doctor? I don't want to waste much time when I could easily be back having lunch as I listened to his cries for mercy."

"What do you want with Dink?" Rainbow Dash shouted, trying her best to sound tougher then she felt. In truth however she knew she had about as much chance of beating her as Rarity had of ever going a day without grooming herself for an hour at a time.

"None of your business little Equestrian." She said. "Just give me the filly or else."

"Not ganna happen mare!" She shouted and she closed the door and ran back into the living room and shoved the couch onto its side so it could act as a barrier to block the door. Then she ran to Dinky's room and opened the door quickly. "Dinky, we gata go now!"

"What's wrong?" She said nervously as she picked up Mr. TomTom.

"No time to explain Dinky, we've got to…" She started saying but a second later the couch was shoved aside and she had to jump to avoid being crushed by it. She landed and felt the wind being knocked from her as she was kicked in the stomach and sent flying into the kitchen.

"RAINBOW!" Dinky shouted and ran over to her, Mr. TomTom her toy flying above her.

"There's the little spawn of The Doctor." The Professor said quietly. "Tell me little Dinky would you like to see your daddy again?"

"You know where Daddy is?" Dinky asked as she took shelter behind Rainbow Dash as she got back on her hooves.

"Yes… you see I have him, how would you like to pay him a little visit?" She said in a sweet voice that didn't even try to hide the sinister intentions in her voice.

"No… I don't want to go with you." Dinky said nervously. "Bring back my daddy, let him go!"

"Listen you little waste of Time Lord Genetics." She said angrily. "One way or another you and your father will be reunited, you can either see him still alive for a little time, OR YOU CAN REUNITE WITH HIM IN DEATH!"

Dinky screamed in terror as The Professor shouted at her, causing Rainbow to put herself between Dinky and their attacker. However instead of preparing herself to fight to protect the little filly, Mr. TomTom jumped in front and opened its beak, declaring in the same mechanical voice mirroring The Doctor's, **(Warning Dinky in danger, initiating level one protection protocol.) **It opened its beak wider and a strange sound came from it, almost like a loud whining.

"What the…" The Professor said, but at that moment a small rubber ball hit her head from behind.

**(DINKY IN DANGER, PROTECT DINKY AT ALL COST!)**

Rainbow Dash looked as all of Dinky's toys stormed out of her room and in their own ways charged the mare threatening her and Dinky. The balloon Blimp toy opened its basket up to reveal a small net which it fired at the mare's face. The Celestia toy's sides opened up to reveal small light bulbs which glowed so brightly that they blinded the mare temporarily. The HideNSeek toy extended a small scoop and forced it under her hoof, causing her to trip and stumble to the ground. **(DINKY IN DANGER, DINKY IN DANGER, PROTECT DINKY!)** They all shouted constantly in their own voices as they began attacking her, climbing on her and stomping her in their bid to protect Dinky from harm.

**(This way Dinky!) **Mr. TomTom said as he led the way toward the back door as the other toys fought The Professor however they could with whatever they had.

"Wait Mr. TomTom!) Dinky shouted as she chased after her toy.

"Dinky wait up!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she caught up to Dinky and turned to see the battle between the mare and the toys. The toys were holding their own, but it was clear that the only advantage they had was now lost, because she picked up one of the toys and smashed it against the ground. She grabbed the Celestia toy next and broke one of its light bulbs as it tried to keep the light shining in her eyes.

They were buying them precious time, but they would not last much longer.

She followed Dinky outside the back door as the toy bird she was chasing led her toward the solitary tree. Once under the tree the toy stopped running and allowed Dink to pick it up. Rainbow looked back at the house and heard the final cries of whatever toy remained fighting the professor inside fade away. "Dinky we've got to get out of here, if we fly now we can get away before she realizes which way we've gone!" Rainbow Dash said as she tried to pick Dinky up, but she remained next to the tree.

"No, daddy said if something bad ever happened to stay near the tree with Mr. TomTom." Dinky said as she clutched Mr. TomTom close to her.

"Dinky this tree is not going to help us!" She said exasperated as she looked back at the house. "Let's get out of here before it's too late!"

"No daddy said stay here so I stay!" Dinky said determinedly.

She was about to just grab Dinky and fly off when the backdoor was smashed open, causing both her and Dinky to watch as The Professor stormed out and looked around for them. She looked at the tree, paid it no attention before looking around again. "Where did they go?" She shouted angrily as she looked into the sky. "Of course, Rainbow Dash is one of the fastest Pegasi ponies in all of Equestria, she would have taken to the air! But where would she go?"

Rainbow Dash watched in amazement as the mare seemed to completely ignore her and Dinky look through the sky for some sign of where they might have flown. She made another chirping sound and another wooden bird flew toward her from the grass. "Which direction did they fly?" She asked.

**(Please restate question.) **It stated.

"The Pegasus and the Unicorn, which direction did they fly you stupid machine!" She shouted angrily.

**(Unable to calculate, this unit did not observe any Pegasus or Unicorn member of the species flying.) **It said.

The Professor smashed the toy in anger and tapped something on her neck. There came a rumbling as the segmented black metal ball rolled around the side of the house and rolled toward her before separating and attaching itself to her back to form her metal wings again. "Useless toys, why did I bother stealing so many of them from those stupid fillies and foals?" She shouted as the wings engines roared to life and she took into the air. "Fine, I guess I'll have to search for them the old fashioned way! With my own two eyes, they must have taken to the air and flown somewhere. As long as that Pegasus has that spawn of The Doctor I'll find her no matter how far or how fast she flies."

The mare took off and flew in the direction of Canterlot before turning toward the Everfree Forest. Soon she left them behind without a second glance back at the tree. Seven minutes later Rainbow Dash walked out from under the tree and stared in amazement at the spot where the mare vanished from sight. "Why didn't she see us?" She asked incredibly. "We were no more than ten feet in front of her, why didn't she us?"

"I don't know." Dinky said nervously.

"Well somehow we got away from her Dinky…" She started saying as she turned toward Dinky and couldn't see her. "Dinky where did you go?"

"I'm right here." Dinky said.

"Where I can't see you." She said, looking around but she couldn't see anything but the tree. Dinky then just appeared out of nowhere as she walked out from under the tree as she clutched her toy close to her. "No way… Dinky step back again with that toy, back under the tree."

Dinky nodded and walked toward the tree and vanished from sight, then Rainbow Dash walked under the tree and she rematerialized in front of her right next to the tree.

"Incredible… this has to be some kind of magic." She said amazed at what she was seeing. "This toy and the tree are keeping you and me hidden from sight. I think we just found what your dad was telling us to look for. Now if only I knew what this thing was."

"I'm hungry Rainbow; can I get one of my mom's muffins from the kitchen?" Dinky asked.

"Well I could use a snack after that little fight." She said as she realized that she hadn't eaten since yesterday.

They walked back toward the house and entered through the broken back door and Dink screamed as she saw the carnage inside the living room. Rainbow watched her rush toward her fallen and broken toys that had desperately fought to keep the two of them from being harmed and bought them as much time as they could, but at the cost of themselves being destroyed. "My toys…" Dinky cried as she picked up the remains of two her toys. "My Boopyball… my Celestia… why did she have to break my daddy's toys?"

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel sad as she watched Dinky try to put some pieces of her Celestia toy together but ended up breaking them even more. Sure they were just toys to her, but those toys had sacrificed themselves without hesitation to keep Dinky from getting hurt, and all she had been able to do was question what their maker wanted them to look for in his home. Not to mention get herself a good hoof in the stomach and run away from her attacker as she chased after Dinky.

Dinky cried as she tried to pick up the pieces of her fallen toys but every time she attempted to put them together, all she did was break them even more because of how badly damaged they were. Now she was crying so much as Rainbow picked her up and tried her best to comfort her, but all she could do was pat her back as her toy Mr. TomTom flew above her in circles. "Why did she have to break my daddy's toys?" She wailed through tears. "They didn't do anything bad to her, they just wanted to play and make me happy!"

"It's okay Dinky." Rainbow Dash whispered as she looked at the remains. "They were trying to protect you from getting hurt, I'm sure your dad will be able to fix them when we get him back."

Mr. TomTom landed in front of Dinky and opened his beak and said in the Doctor's mechanical voice. **(Warning, Dinky in danger, threat returning to this location, commence evacuation procedure level one.)**

"Threat returning?" She said as she put Dinky down and looked at the toy. Seconds later she heard the sound of the strange flying device drawing closer. "Oh crud she's coming back, we've got to get outa here!"

**(This way Dinky.) **Mr. TomTom called out as he took the lead and flew back out toward the tree in the backyard.

Rainbow Dash looked behind her and saw in the distance the mare speeding toward them. Her flying machine's engines burning a fiery path through the air as they trailed a pitch black smoke behind her. This time however she was watching them, and she knew that the tree's disguise wasn't going to keep them hidden or safe.

Still she decided to trust the toy, seeing how her previous doubts had led to her being disproven each time. She walked under the tree with Dinky and watched as the toy bird landed and stared up at the tree. The toy bird opened up its beak again and a strange siren sound rang out from it. Rainbow watched and waited, wondering if she should try to buy the toy more time by flying out to face the mare in the air, but seconds later the tree started shivering and vanished. Replaced by a large one pony sized, blue box with the words 'Police Public Call Box' adorning it.

"No way… the blue box?" Rainbow Dash whispered as she beheld the box from the pictures Princess Luna had shown her and the others back in Canterlot.

"Wow… what is that?" Dinky asked in amazement.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that we just found what your dad wanted us to find…" She said as she looked at it in wonder.

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME THAT EASILY!" The Professor shouted in fury as she forced herself to land heavily on the ground in front of Ditzy's home and ran toward Rainbow Dash and Dinky while still wearing her black metal wings.

Rainbow Dash looked between the mare and the blue box, wondering how to open it as the door just swung itself. "Okay I get the hint!" She shouted as she scooped up Dinky and flung herself through the door. At first she figured there would be no room to close the door, but she had plenty of room to stand up and close the door shut. She heard a clicking sound, and felt the door budge only slightly as something on the other side slam into it.

She figured that the door was locked and it was safe now to look around, and once she did she just stopped thinking that The Doctor was anything BUT an alien. The room inside the box looked only large enough to hold only one pony from the outside, but on the inside it looked like it could have been as big as Ditzy's home, even bigger because of the numerous corridors leading from the room she and Dinky were in.

The walls were golden and silver, with what looked like small boxes lining the walls and a central pillar with strange buttons and levers and other devices that Rainbow Dash had no hope of figuring out. She could feel something inside this box; something that she felt **knew **she was in there. However it didn't seem to want to harm her, instead it calmed her and made her feel safe, like she was in the safest place in all of Equestria and could spend the rest of her life there if need be.

"What is this place…" She said as she took a few steps forward, Dinky right behind her.

"Dinky's Time Signature detected." A mare's voice rang out suddenly, causing Rainbow Dash and Dinky to jump in surprise. "Commencing stage two family protection protocol, locating Sparkler Hooves… Sparkler Hooves located commencing retrieval program."

"Wait what's going on!" Rainbow Dash said as everything started shaking and she heard a Vwroop sound.

=Sparkler's PoV, 21 minutes after Doctor's Message=

"Why can't I be at the hospital with my mother Princess?" Sparkler asked as she stood in the center of the throne room.

"We told you, we received a message from your father telling us to locate you and bring you to the throne room." Luna said as she looked down at Sparkler while reading a message concerning how some Pegasus ponies were now able to use their wings. "One of your father's toys was able to relay a message he prepared in the event of his being defeated by his opponent. He informed us to locate you as soon as possible and bring you to the throne room as well as to keep you here; he didn't say how long to keep you here, but to keep you here nonetheless."

"Well my father isn't exactly in any position to tell me where to stay your majesty." Sparkler said, thoroughly annoyed at not being allowed to stay close to her mother when she needed her most.

"With all due respect Princess Luna…" Twilight started saying, but seconds later stopped and stared in shock as a strange blue box started appearing in the middle of the room right in front of Sparkler with a Vwroop sound.

"WHAT THE…" Sparkler shouted as several guards, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie stared in wonder as the blue box faded in and out for a few seconds before it became solid. Adorning the top of the blue box were the words 'Public Police Call Box'. "What is that thing?"

Sparkler backed away instantly away from the front as a door opened slowly and out walked Rainbow Dash, holding her stomach as though she were sick. "Ugh… I think I'm ganna hurl…" She whispered as she shakily walked out.

"Rainbow, Dinky, what is this thing?" Twilight asked in amazement.

"Twilight… no way we were just at Ditzy's home." Rainbow said as she looked around her. "It took me ten minutes of fast flying to get from here to there, how'd we get back here in two seconds?"

"You found it?" Luna said in amazement as she came around the other side to look at the front of the blue box. "We don't believe it; you actually found and activated his Tardis!"

"What in tarnation is a Tardis?" Applejack said.

"Well… we wish Ditzy was here to explain, for she would know more about it." Luna said as she examined the box from top to bottom. "But in as few words as possible, this is the means The Doctor uses to travel through space and through time. It is with the power of this blue box that he so well known, and only he knows how to operate it."

"Yea? Well I hope that Doc knows how crazy he is… because this thing started talking and saying it located Sparkler after retrieving Dinky." She said as she looked at the blue box with distaste.

"Wait, DINKY'S IN THERE?!" Sparkler said as she looked at the open door and ran inside it.

"Sparkler wait!" Somepony shouted behind her, but she didn't care. Dinky was supposed to be upstairs, how did she go from being safe and sound upstairs to being in this blue box? She ran inside the box and just stared around her as she looked at the inside, and instantly knew that her father was far from being the simple toymaker pony that she had figured him to be.

=Dinky's PoV=

**/watch?v=dIYZ1Ej_Dzg**

Dinky watched Rainbow Dash stumble out of the room and was about to follow her when she heard the sound of music coming from one of the hallways. The music sounded familiar and welcoming, and was lured toward it. She walked down the hallway that the music was loudest, and followed the song as it continued to urge her forward.

"_Come little child… I'll take thee away… into an ocean of happiness… come little filly… the time's come to play… here in my garden of magic and light."_

The song was so welcoming and so soothing that she felt herself going deeper and deeper into whatever this blue box was. She felt the comforting feeling of something watching over her, as though she didn't need to be afraid of anything while she walked the hallways. Wherever this hallway led she felt more comforting and much safer the further she went.

"Whose there?" She asked as she turned a corridor and the music became louder and more welcoming.

"_Follow sweet child… I'll show thee the way… through all the fear, and the worry… Weep not poor filly… for life aint this way… Encouraging peace and serenity."_

"Who is singing Mr. TomTom, do you know?" She asked her toy as it flew above her and followed behind her. The song was so strong and so comforting that she was compelled to continue toward the source.

"_Hush now my child… It must be this way… too weary of doubt and deceptions… rest now my filly… for soon we'll away… into the calm and the quiet."_

Dinky walked out of the hallway and entered a large room lined with gold walls and beautiful paintings of flowers and open skies. Other paintings showed wonderful views of grasslands and amazing sunsets, and one picture was of her entire family. Her father at the back and next to him was her mother, with her and her big sister in front of them. All of them were smiling as they stood in front of a large blue box.

In the center of this room was a mare, and what looked like a strange musical instrument that used strings to be played. The mare had a blue coat and light blue mane with yellow lines around her eyes, and sat on a large and very large and comfortable looking pillow. She had no cutie mark, but her voice as she sang the song and the sound coming from the instrument she played was nothing short of beautiful. She was even better at singing then her mommy was.

"_Come little child… I'll take thee away… into an ocean of happiness… come little filly… the time's come to play… here in my garden of magic and light…"_

Dinky watched as she played her final note and opened her eyes to look at her. Her eyes were golden yellow, and everything about her radiated that she was familiar and friendly. She didn't know how she knew this, but something about this mar told Dinky that she could trust her entirely. The mare smiled at her and stood up to walk over to her. She towered over Dinky but she was nowhere near scary as that mare who threatened her and Rainbow Dash as she leaned closer and nuzzled her cheek gently.

"Hello little Dinky… did you enjoy my song?" She asked in a caring voice.

"It was very pretty." Dinky said as she allowed herself to be nuzzled by the strange mare.

"That's very kind of you. That was actually the very first time I sang it little one." She said as she walked back over to the pillow and sat down. "I felt that you were very scared, and very worried about so many things that have happened that I just had to do something to calm you down and clear your thoughts."

"How did you know?" Dinky asked as she followed her over to the pillow and sat next to her.

"Well let's just say that I have a very deep connection to your father." She said as she looked up at her family's portrait. "You could say he and I are very good friends. We've been together for many years, and I witnessed the love that blossomed between him and your mother. I watched from afar as you took root inside of her, and from within this small room, I observed as you slowly grew into the beautiful filly that you are now. You have your mother's wonderful eyes, coat and personality. You have your father's fascination with learning and wanting to know everything."

The mare looked down at Dinky and gave her a motherly smile. "What a beautiful blend of magic and science you may become." She said. "From the Time Lord who is your father and the Equestrian Pegasus that is your mother... to think that those two could create something so incredible and so amazing. The galaxy smiles and shares in the happiness that they have created. It warms my insides as I share this space with you, and I feel such joy just by singing to you."

Dinky watched as the mare took a hoof and touched her horn lightly before her smile faded slightly. "Yet you do not seem happy, even after my song." She said. "Tell me little one, what is it that makes you sad, here in the heart of this place?"

Dinky thought about her daddy, and remembered the scary mare that tried to hurt her and Rainbow Dash. "There's a scary mare that has my daddy." She said sadly.

"There is?" The mare whispered. "Why would she do that? Did your daddy do anything wrong to make her take him?"

"No…" Dinky said sadly as Mr. TomTom landed next to her and she picked it up. "Daddy makes really nice toys… and she hurt my daddy… and broke all but one of my special toys that daddy made for me…" She started crying as she remembered how all of her dad's toys were now broken and smashed. "Daddy will be mad at me for getting them all broken… he's going to yell at me because all of my toys are ruined… they were so special and he gave them all to me and now they're all broken…"

Dinky started crying as she clutched the last toy she had, she cried her tears into the pillow as she tried to think of something happy, but all she could think of was how she wanted her mommy to cheer her up now. The mare nuzzled her gently and comforted her by whispering sweet words to her. "I know what it's like to have something you treasure be broken." She whispered as she looked gently down at her. "However there is always something to be happy for and I know just what will make you feel better."

She pulled the musical instrument closer and sat up so she could play it. She started playing a tune that was so familiar that she knew what it was before she started singing. _"Stars and moons and air balloons…"_

=Sparkler's PoV=

"What is that sound?" Sparkler asked as Luna finished explaining about how old her father was. The sound was so alluring, yet what the song was saying scared her slightly.

"_Come little child… I'll take thee away… into an ocean of happiness… come little filly… the time's come to play… here in my garden of magic and light."_

"That sounds like a song." Twilight said.

"Really Twi, what was your firs clue?" Applejack said sarcastically.

"Oh I really like this song." Pinkie Pie said as they listened to the wonderful music.

"_Follow sweet child… I'll show thee the way… through all the fear, and the worry… Weep not poor filly… for life aint this way… Encouraging peace and serenity."_

"Whoever is singing has an amazing voice." Rarity said. "Really dazzling, whoever that pony is can sing all of Manehattan to bed with just this song."

"Yea I know how you feel." Rainbow Dash said. "It's really soothing to the ear."

"I really like this song." Fluttershy said as waved her eyes in tune to the song.

"But who is singing, that is what we want to know." Luna said.

"_Hush now my child… It must be this way… too weary of doubt and deceptions… rest now my filly… for soon we'll away… into the calm and the quiet."_

"Well whoever is singing knows where Dinky is." Sparkler said as she headed down a hallway that the song was loudest.

"Wait up Sparkler!" Twilight shouted as she and the other element bearers followed her.

"Guards remain here until we return." Luna yelled as she too followed them.

"_Come little child… I'll take thee away… into an ocean of happiness… come little filly… the time's come to play… here in my garden of magic and light…"_

The music continued to play for a little longer but after a few minutes it stopped playing. Sparkler listened carefully but no sound came from the hallway, and without the song to guide her she had no idea where she was going. "Where are we going?" Sparkler asked as she looked this way and that way as three corridors were in front of her.

"Wow, look at this!" Pinkie Pie said from behind her.

They all looked at a series of doors that seemed to lead into bedrooms, judging by what the small windows showed on the inside. Written above one of the doors in golden words that Pinkie had pointed to was 'Doctor Hooves'.

"My father's name?" Sparkler asked.

"Look at this, Ditzy's name is here also." Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to another door opposite it.

Sure enough, written in golden words was the name 'Ditzy Doo/Hooves'. The door was slightly ajar so Sparkler stepped forward and opened it so they could look inside. The room was enormous; it could have passed for the royal bedroom itself. The bed could have fit four full grown stallions and mares, and still have room for a filly or foal to sleep comfortably on. Next to it was a cabinet with all the drawers open, but on top of it was a picture of her mother, Ditzy, standing next to her father as they shared a picnic before their wedding day. There was also a large walk in closet next to the bed, but it was empty.

"Now this is how I want to live." Rarity whispered as she eyed the bed. "Did he really give his wife all this free of charge?"

"Hey look at this!" Pinkie Pie shouted outside. "Sparkler has her own room as well."

"No way, I've never even been in here before!" Sparkler said as she left the room and went to the door that Pinkie Pie was in front of. There written in gold letters above the door, was 'Sparkler Hooves'. "What kind of… what is this place?"

"Wouldja look at this." Applejack called out from one of the hallways. "We all got rooms here, heck even Luna's got one of her own!"

Sparkler, Twilight, Luna and the others all went to where Applejack was calling from and sure enough, several doors that lined the hallway all had names written in gold letters above each door. "Twilight Sparkle, Applejack." Twilight said in an awed voice. "Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy… Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? What are we all doing here?"

"Well we can understand our sister's name as well as our own being down here." Luna said as she looked at her room and the room next to it that belonged to Celestia. "We once accompanied The Doctor in an adventure when we were misplaced in time, his Tardis lost power temporarily and it was a full twenty four hours before we could return, so he gave us this room. Our sister has had a few more encounters here than we did, so we guess she stayed here for a period of time at some point. However we do not know why all of your names are here, considering none of you have entered this Tardis before today."

"I want to know that myself…" Rarity said.

"Creepy." Rainbow Dash said.

**/watch?v=HCLCtdKt9PQ**

"_Stars and moons and air balloons… Fluffy clouds to the horizon…"_

"Whoever was singing is doing it again." Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.

"What kind of song is she singing this time?" Twilight asked curiously as they all listened to the melody.

"_I'll wrap you in rainbows… And rock you to sleep again… teddy bears of pink… ducks and lambs of white… don't you cry dear I'm here now… I'll be your night light…"_

"I know that song… that's my mother's lullaby!" Sparkler shouted as she listened intently to find the source of the song. "This way, it's coming from here!"

Sparkler led the way as she followed the sound of the song deeper into whatever this place was that had rooms with all of their names on the doors. They passed by long corridors and all sorts of doors that she had no concern for because she was only interested in finding her little sister Dinky. She was the only remaining family member she had left now, and she was not willing to let anything take that away from her.

"_Stars and moons and air balloons… Fluffy clouds to the horizon… I'll wrap you in rainbows… And rock you to sleep again… Smiles to cure the frowns… twirling and tumbling in laughter… Someday life will always be… happily ever after…"_

"Who is singing down here?" Twilight asked as they stopped at a fork and listened to the song before going further.

"_Nevermore will the storms come… To destroy your little world… Nevermore will the waters rise… Till the mountains no longer touch the skies…"_

"This way." Sparkler called out as she went left.

The corridor ended quickly and they came out in a huge circular room that was lined with dozens upon dozens of paintings. The paintings depicted lovely flowers and scenery of grassland and beautiful sunsets and wide open skies. A large portrait of Doctor Hooves and Ditzy Hooves sitting in front of a blue box captured everyone's attention. In the middle of the room, sitting on a large pillow and playing a wonderful golden harp, was a strange mare.

She had a blue coat and light blue mane, no cutie mark, and golden yellow eyes. She played the harp and sang the lullaby to nopony in particular, at least until Sparkler saw Dinky curled up and sleeping soundly next to the mare. Sparkler was worried at first when she saw Dinky sleeping next to this strange mare, but for some reason she wasn't afraid of her. Something about this room told her that she and the others were completely safe. Ever since she entered this Tardis as Luna kept telling her was the name of, she had a feeling of safety and security that she had never felt before. Her senses were also telling her that this mare was the same thing in that she could be trusted and that Dinky was safe right next to her.

"Woa, who is that?" Pinkie Pie asked amazed.

"No idea, never seen her before." Twilight whispered.

"She has an amazing voice… and she's practically gala worthy without a dress!" Rarity said.

"Princess you seen her anywhere before?" Applejack asked as the mare continued to play the harp and sing in her beautiful voice.

"Never… we have never seen her before…" Luna said.

"She looks really friendly." Fluttershy said.

"I have this strange feeling that I can trust her with anything." Rainbow Dash said.

"_Stars and moons and air balloons… Fluffy clouds to the horizon…" _The mare sang as she strung the strings of the harp one last time. _"I'll wrap you in rainbows… and rock you… to sleep… agaaaaaaain."_

The mare finished playing her song and opened her eyes and looked at them. Something in her eyes told Sparkler that she was very old, yet at the same time very young. She looked and felt ignorant and wise, kind and gentle as well as cruel and pitiless all without saying anything to them. She was not a mare to be made fun of or poked fun at.

"Welcome Sparkler Hooves, adopted daughter of Doctor Hooves and Ditzy Hooves, and older sister to Dinky Doo Hooves." She said in a gentle and welcoming voice. "Welcome Element of Harmony bearers Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Welcome back Princess Luna, younger sister to Princess Celestia of Equestria. I expected you all to come here tonight, so I figured I would play a few songs to calm the storms of your hearts and minds that have been raging for some time these past two days. I also wished to soothe the despair that little Dinky was feeling here, for she means so much to your father and mother, and through them me. I also wish that I could have helped you outside of here, but there is nothing I can do to affect the outside."

"Wait a darn tootin moment, ya'all sayin you was expectin us tonight?" Applejack said hot headedly. "How'd ya know we was comin, you act as though you never even left this place an yet you know everythin about us!"

"Well I do know everything about you Applejack, Keeper of the Element of Honesty." She said in a soothing voice. "I also speak honestly when I say that I have never left this place."

"How come?" Pinkie Pie asked cheerfully.

"Because Pinkie Pie, Keeper of the Element of Laughter, I am restricted to existing only within these rooms." The mare said as she looked around the room they were in. "Though I am not bound to remain in one place all the time, I can travel all over the place at any time The Doctor wishes or is needed."

"Wait how can you travel through time?" Twilight asked. "I mean, what is your cutie mark, you don't have one that I can see."

"I travel through time in a way that is too difficult for even you to comprehend at this point Twilight Sparkle, Keeper of the Tiara and Element of Magic." The mare said. "As for what my cutie mark is… I do not have one for I do not need one. If you want me to have one then let me have some time to come up with one."

"Who does your mane and coat dear?" Rarity asked, unable to restrain herself from asking.

"Nopony does anything for me; I chose to look this way so as to give Dinky no reason to fear me when she first saw me, and because this is how I choose to look to any but The Doctor, Miss Rarity who is the Keeper of the Element of Generosity." She said.

"Wait you did this for Dinky?" Rainbow Dash asked suddenly. "How do you even know her, she never even met you according to what you just said."

"I know her Rainbow Dash, Keeper of the Element of Loyalty, because I witnessed her mother's impregnation with The Doctor's child." She said gently as she checked on Dinky to make sure she was still asleep. "I did not choose to witness it, but I had to because it was a momentous moment in the galaxy's history… for never before has there been such a blending of Magic and Science in this universe as it is found currently in Dinky Doo Hooves, who is both a Time Lord and a Unicorn."

"Uh… who are you?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

The mare smiled at this question and stood up carefully to avoid waking Dinky from her nap. She walked slowly toward them and she seemed to radiate with strength and energy, as though she were the most powerful being among them. "That is a good question Fluttershy, Keeper of the Element of Kindness." She said. "My name is, as it has been for all of the Doctor's regenerations, since he first set out to help the universe before his first regeneration. I am called, the Tardis."


	5. Chapter 4 - The Incomplete Toy

Chapter 4 – The Incomplete Toy

=Sparkler's PoV=

"Your name is, Tardis?" Sparkler asked. "What kind of name is that?"

"Impossible, the Tardis is not a mare; it's the ship that travels through time we know as the blue box!" Luna said. "You can't expect us to believe that you are the Tardis itself when we are standing in the very bowels of the ship?"

"Yet it is true Luna." The mare who called herself the Tardis said. "I am indeed the Tardis; actually I am the heart of the Tardis inside of this very room. This room is known as the heart of any Tardis, and from this room my true feelings and emotions are expressed and felt to the very depths of your beings. It also from here where I feel the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and all the strands of time that flow through individuals that live and pass through this universe."

Sparkler looked at the mare and wondered if she was insane or if she was crazy, but at the same time she seemed to know everything about them without ever even meeting them before. Also since Dinky was fast asleep on the pillow where she had been sitting meant that her little sister had trusted her enough to get close to her, which was far from what she did when she first saw Night Word earlier that morning. So she decided to at least believe her word for now.

"Okay let's just pretend that we believe you for the moment." Sparkler said. "What are you doing here; I mean you seem to know what's going on out there, so why are you just sitting in here doing nothing? Why don't you go out there and help?"

"I can't go anywhere you don't tell me to go Sparkler Hooves." The mare said in a matter of fact voice. "I am merely the ship that travels through space and time, only my driver can do anything to help you. That means the Doctor is the only one who can help you I am afraid."

"Well my father is missing at the moment!" Sparkler shouted angrily. "You seem to know a lot of what's happening out there, so tell us where he is! You're the only one who can help us now, so help us. I lost my father today, my mother is in the hospital, Dinky is all I have left now!"

Sparkler couldn't believe how angry she had gotten right there, she didn't even remember having a reason for being so angry. For some reason she just had a sudden desire to yell angrily at the sweet mare in front of her. "I know my father is still alive out there, and yet nopony is willing to go search for him!" She yelled. "You claim to know everything that happens outside of this room without ever even leaving or seeing anything out there. So tell me you know where my father is, tell me where I can find him so I can look for mine and Dinky's father!"

Every other pony but the mare looked at her with surprised eyes, yet the blue mare didn't seem fazed by her outburst. "The reason I cannot help you sweet Sparkler, is because I cannot move on my own." She said in a kind voice. "I am unable to unlock the system that allows me to relocate myself on my own, only your father and mother can unlock it with one of their keys. Without those keys the only other means they can unlock the system is to use the voice recognition program that would unlock it by hearing them."

"Well how are we ganna do that then?" Applejack said. "Only one who's good at mimicking voices aroun here is the doc."

"That isn't true." The mare said as she turned back to Dinky. "There is another way to imitate a voice Applejack; you should know that by now."

They all looked at what she was looking at, and saw that she was staring at Mr. TomTom, Dinky's toy bird as it flew in a circle above her head. "The toy?" Twilight asked. "You mean that toy will be able to help us?"

"That's what it was designed to do, when it isn't making Dinky laugh or performing tricks and singing lullabies for her." The mare said as the toy looked at them for a moment before landing next to Dinky again. "It and all of her toys were designed to protect Dinky from harm, each of her toys were equipped with different tools to keep her safe. Mr. TomTom was equipped with a miniature sonic handgun as well as small holographic projectors to conceal Dinky from sight."

"The toy was also designed with stronger wood and more complicated programming to allow it a greater range of recognition for its environment, as you can see he is constantly looking around for anything new or unfamiliar that might be a threat to Dinky." The mare continued as the toy looked at them all again. "The toy was also given the Doctor's entire speech program that will allow you to unlock his half of the code to the console. Once we get your mother's half he will be able to unlock the control console that will allow me to move through space and time at your pleasure."

"How long is that going to take?" Rainbow Dash asked annoyed. "For all we know it could take hours, and that mare that captured the Doctor and Princess Celestia is probably looking for us again, who knows when she could come looking around."

"She isn't looking for me." The mare said as she walked over and checked to see if Dinky was still asleep.

"How do you know that?" Sparkler asked.

"She knows she has no hope of catching up with me, no matter what her Tardis is capable of, it is nothing compared to me." She said as she turned back to them. "I know her Tardis is not capable of time travel like me, she could wait for millennia and all it would take is one trip through time and I would be out of her reach forever. Her power is nothing compared to me alone, yet without the Doctor or somebody to pilot me, I am powerless before her Tardis."

"Okay so we're safe so long as you're around." Applejack said. "Well how'r we ganna find Ditzy's half of the code, she aint exactly in a talkin mood while in the hospital."

"That's an easy answer; we already have her half inside of ." The mare said. "What we need is another of Dinky's toys that is able to perform her half of the code, and together they can unlock the control console."

"Well we're outa luck then." Rainbow Dash sadly. "The Professor smashed all of Dinky's toys with exception to that one, she doesn't have anymore."

"Not true." The mare said as she walked back over to Dinky and shook her lightly to wake her up. "There is one more toy that belongs to Dinky; it's inside one of the rooms here. All we need to do is take Dinky to it so she can wake it up and have it help us."

"Why do we need to take little Dinky?" Rarity asked.

"She's the only one who can get the toy to work with us." She said as Dinky slowly opened her eyes and yawned. "The toy is currently only set to respond to and answer to The Doctor's and Dinky's voices. Since none of you can replicate their voices we have no choice but to have Dinky talk to the toy and get it to work with us."

Sparkler understood this but wondered what she meant by Dinky being the only one who could get it to work with them. "Okay, so where do we go to find this toy?" Sparkler asked as Dinky got up and walked over to Sparkler when she saw them all, her toy bird following her in the air.

"Follow me all of you, and I'll give you the tour as we head toward our destination." The mare said as she took the lead and walked back through the hallway they all came from.

She led the way down the corridor and turned toward a door that had something strange written above it. The golden text was completely foreign to Sparkler, she had no idea what it was saying, nor did any of the others from what she saw. Dinky however seemed to recognize it, because she looked at it and read it out loud. "Farm Room?" She said.

"Correct Dinky, this is indeed the farm room." The mare said as she walked toward the door and it opened on its own. "Applejack should find this particular room interesting because this is where The Doctor keeps the apple orchard."

They all walked inside into, though Sparkler and everyone else couldn't believe it, into a blazingly sunny day. It took them a few minute to adjust to the sunlight but once they did, they saw a huge room full of apple trees as far as they could see. Below them was, though she couldn't believe it, grassy fields and wonderfully soft soil. Somehow her father had an entire farm growing inside this metal… whatever it was.

"No way." Applejack said in amazement. "Ya got sunlight an ever'thin in here! How in the name of Celestia didja manage that?"

"If I were to explain how I created a miniature star inside this room and contain it to the level you see so that it can naturally grow fruits and vegetables would make your head explode." The mare said as she walked over to a tree and looked at the apples. "Go ahead and have an apple, they're ripe for the picking and I'm fully aware of Sweet Apple Acre's reputation for having the best apples in Ponyville. Give them a taste and tell me how they stand up in comparison."

Applejack walked over to a tree and judged it for a moment before she turned and bucked it with her rear hooves. The tree shook slightly and one apple fell to the ground before her. She picked it up and tasted it, and instantly declared that it was delicious, though not as good as her family's apples.

"Well I suppose we still need to work on them." The mare said sadly as she led the way out through the door they went through. "Perhaps if I alter the watering cycle and change the height of that sunlight…"

She mumbled to herself as she led the way down the corridor and up to the next level. She turned down a hallway and walked toward another room that, just like the other room, had golden text telling what it was but none of them besides Dinky could read it. "Gala Room." Dinky said.

"Yep and Pinkie Pie should like this room in particular." The mare said as it opened at her approach and led them inside.

"WOA!" They all shouted, with exception to Luna who merely widened her eyes.

The room was huge, larger than any room that Sparkler had ever seen in her life. It reached higher than she ever knew a room could reach. Above huge golden and silver chandeliers hung from above and rained golden light above the vast array of tables below them. The tables had beautiful cloth coverings and plates and silverware in preparation for dinner party set for hundreds of guests. There was even a collection of musical instruments on the far side so that an orchestra could play whatever music the guests wanted.

"The party room." The mare said as Pinkie Pie walked forward, and sparkler instantly knew that she was already thinking of some party that she could have here. "I had intended for The Doctor and his wife to be married here, and then have their party in this room. Alas you and your sister Luna beat me to it, so all of my preparations were wasted. Still I keep it ready in case we ever have a party, and I know Pinkie Pie will want to have one here after seeing this room."

They left the room, though Pinkie Pie had to be coerced out of it, and followed the mare toward another room in that same hallway. "This room you will like Rarity." The mare said. "This is the dressing room, and where The Doctor keeps all of his outfits for any occasion."

She led the way into a large walk-in closet. There were racks upon racks of clothes that looked like they weren't designed to be worn by ponies. However a small section clearly were designed to be worn by stallions and other ponies, she even saw her father's favorite tie in multiples.

"Look at all these outfits." Rarity said, and her inner boutique owner started shining. "Look at the design, look at the coloring, oh look at all of these outfits. Ick… what kind of, oh that just won't do… now that is just clearly…"

"Two hundred sets of clothing for his Bipedal form, in both male and female sets." The mare said. "Not to mention five hundred miles worth of yarn and other materials to make more clothing. All of it in this room, though he only has twelve sets for his current form, he keeps the rest in storage in case they are needed. Or if he is just feeling nostalgic."

They left the room, much to the displeasure of Rarity, and followed the mare as she continued her tour of the ship toward their destination. They walked down another corridor and stopped in another door that had a red cross engraved on it, as well as strange golden text above it as well. "This is a room Fluttershy would like in particular, this is the Tardis Hospital." She said as she opened the door and revealed a room that looked like the inside of the Canterlot Royal Clinic ER. "If ever a being requires medical treatment this room is ready and prepared to service them however. It changes to suit whatever species happens to be aboard the Tardis at the time. As you can see it is currently set to receive and care for Quadrupeds of your type."

"Do you treat anypony who needs it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Anypony, anybody, anything receives treatment here in the Tardis." The mare said as she closed the door and walked on. "Though mostly it remains on standby because we rarely have such medical needs."

They followed her down another corridor and she introduced them to the next room in line, the pool room she said. The room was very large and the pool was vast and deep in sections. It even had a water slide, to which Rainbow Dash was very excited about. The next room in line she said was the last one before they reached their destination. "This one you will like Twilight Sparkle."

"Why's that?" Twilight asked.

"Because it's something you're very familiar with, considering you live inside it." She said. "It's the Library."

She opened the door and Twilight walked through first, her mouth open and eyes wide in surprise. Sparkler guessed that she had just died and gone to paradise, because all around her were rows upon rows of shelves, each containing books as far and high as she could see. All four of the walls were lined with books; the floor's décor had a book-like design. Even the ceiling was lit to a perfect level for comfortable reading. Literally there were hundreds of books in front of Twilight that she was just itching to get her

"All the… books." Twilight whispered. "How do you have so many?"

"Oh this isn't even all of them; this is only section A1 to A4." The mare said as she walked over to a wall and pushed a button. The shelves descended into the floor, and seconds later entirely new shelves replaced them, each with new books. "Now it's section A5 to A8, you see the library has over seven million books from across the galaxy stored here. So in order to store them all and allow the books to be accessible at any time, this room stores the shelves containing the books below the floors, and whenever were looking for a particular book we simply use this console to find it."

"Seven MILLION?" Twilight asked with her mouth wide open.

The mare rolled her eyes and smiled as she walked out of the room. "I figured that was going to be her reaction, still perhaps I should not have shown her the library." She mumbled as Applejack and Rainbow Dash half dragged Twilight out of the room.

"I don't get what is the point of all these rooms." Sparkler asked as she led them down another hallway that ended in a dead end with a door. "I mean what's the point of all of them."

"Simple, to stall you while I bring you to the main event, the room that you have been looking for since you first learned of your father's job Sparkler." The mare said as she looked back at them all through her golden eyes.

"What room is that?" Sparkler asked.

"Your father's toy workshop of course." She said as she walked forward and opened the door.

They all went inside and instantly, Sparkler knew exactly how her father made so many of his unique toys all alone. Hanging above them in rows of ten and groups of fifty were Flyby Birdy toys just waiting to be painted so they could be packaged and shipped. On one table were a hundred sparkling WalkNTalk Celestia toys, silently waiting to be packaged as well. Another table had a group of Basketball Blimp toys waiting for their balloons to be installed so they could float for whatever filly owned them.

"Look at all of these toys." Rainbow Dash called out as she looked around the room.

"So many of them, I can't believe one stallion can make so many all on his own." Rarity said in amazement.

All around them were toys that Sparkler's father had created, only needing to be finished so they could be sent away to their new owners. Dinky herself was having trouble restraining her enthusiasm when she saw all of the toys, she was pointing out toys every few seconds. She ran over to a group of seven boxes that were open, full of package filling to keep the Flyby Birdy toys inside from moving around.

"Look at this big sis!" Dinky called.

They all walked over and Sparkler saw that the seven toys in the boxes were all fully painted and ready to be played with. She reached down to pick one of the toys up so she could examine it, but the mare cried out the moment she tried. "NO!" She shouted, causing them all to stare at her.

"Don't touch those seven." She said. "They're learning the names and identity of their filly's and foals."

"How do they do that?" Pinkie Pie asked eagerly.

"Look in front of their faces." She said.

They all looked, and sitting in front of each of the toy's eyes were pictures of a filly or foal with their names next to the picture.

"You're kiddin right?" Applejack asked. "They learn bah starin at a picture?"

"Of course, these toys aren't as smart as Mr. TomTom." She said as she walked through the toy room toward the back where a door stood. "They learn by looking at the name and picture of their owner so they recognize who they belong to when they are shipped out. It takes them time to imprint the image of that filly or foal so they never forget them. Otherwise any pony can make use of them or the toy might fly away and get lost, and the one thing a young pony cries more about is a lost or stolen toy. Now here is where the real magic happens."

She indicated the door and they all walked over to her. "This is where your father makes and designs each new toy, watch your step now." She said as she opened the door and they all looked inside before Dinky walked in. Sparkler walked in next and she saw just what she meant by watch your step.

There were piles of wooden blocks around the room, wires and all sorts of gizmos and gadgets hanging inside from within cabinets and drawers. From the walls hung very sharp wood carving tools, all of which were designed to shape the wooden blocks into whatever shape their wielder imagined, and one of the tools was stained with dried blood. Sparkler shivered as she remembered how her mother had told her and Dinky that their father had badly injured himself with one of his tools. She kept a close eye on Dinky as they made their way further into the room, passing by cabinets with numbers and words, describing whatever the contents were, such as 'Celestia Leg #14-A' or 'Basketball Blimp Propeller #05-K' and other toy parts.

Finally they came to the end of the room where there stood a very long table with bits and pieces of wood, dried paint, and wiring that littered the top. On that table, next to a picture of Dinky's face, stood a wooden toy with a fake dark blue mane and light blue eyes. Only the eyes and mane were colored, the rest of the toy was unpainted, and it was missing its rear left leg. It also had two slots on either side of its body that looked like something was missing, but Sparkler had no idea what those slots were for. It vaguely resembled her father's WalkNTalk Celestia toy, minus the coloring, wings, and missing a leg. Wrapped around one of the toy's legs was a thick wire that was connected to a carving tool with a spinning blade which hung on the wall.

"I know that toy!" Dinky cried as she ran over to the toy and stared up at it. "It's the WalkNTalk Luna toy!"

"How do you know that?" Sparkler asked as the others caught up with them and looked at the toy as well.

"Indeed Dinky, how dost this toy resemble us like our sister's toy version?" Luna asked as she leaned closer and examined it.

"Does the toy even work?" Rainbow Dash asked skeptically. "Doesn't exactly look completed if you ask me, and how do we know that this is indeed Dinky's toy?

"Well, all of dad's prototype toys are given to Dinky for her to approve of." Sparkler whispered as she looked around for another possible toy. "This must be the prototype for his WalkNTalk Luna toy that he told Dinky about yesterday. I don't see any other reason why he would make this toy in your likeness Princess. As for if it works or not, I have no idea how any of my dad's toys work."

"It's already looking like you princess!" Dinky said as she used her magic to carefully lift the toy off the table and into her hooves reach. However just as she pulled the toy down the wire snagged and a rattling noise came from the wall as the sharp tool came to life. The tool shook violently and was flung off the wall and swung blade first toward Dinky.

"DINKY!" Sparkler shouted as he started pushing Dinky out of the way but before she could the blade almost got to her. In the instant that Sparkler rushed to push Dinky out of harms way, a bright green net flashed and surrounded the tool, causing the blade to spin and spin until it destroyed itself against the net. The net vanished and the tool fell to the ground, its stump spinning pointlessly as the blade attached to it was gone and the pieces of the blade scattered harmlessly to the ground.

They all stared at the broken tool, and from there back to the toy as they saw that one of the toy's sides had opened up to allow a strange device to extend outward. It glowed brilliantly for a moment before it retracted and the wooden side replaced itself back to where it was before. The toy's head looked around at each of them before it turned to look at Dinky. **(Are you alright Dinky?)** It said in a mechanical version of Luna's own voice. **(Were you harmed in any way?)**

"I'm okay." Dinky whispered as she looked at the toy.

**(I am glad.)** The toy said.

"Well at least we know the toy works." Sparkler said as she took the toy from Dinky and looked at it. "Thanks for saving my sister by the way, how you did that I have no clue but thank you nonetheless."

The toy merely looked at her as it turned its head.

"I'm saying thank you for saving my sister's life." Sparkler said, wondering why the toy wasn't talking now. "You can say you're welcome or something like that."

The toy silently turned its head, not saying anything.

"Okay I get it you're the silent type; can you at least tell us that you can help us find our father?" Sparkler asked, but the toy continued to remain silent as it stared at her. "Will you at least talk or say something?"

"I don't think it can talk to you Sparkler." Pinkie Pie chirped. "Didn't that mare say something about the toy only being able to talk to Dinky or your father?"

"Great, Dinky can you please ask the toy if it can help us find dad?" Sparkler sighed as she gave the toy back to Dinky.

"Can you help us find our daddy?" She asked the toy hopefully.

The toy nodded its head as it spoke. **(I can locate my maker, if that is what you wish.)**

"Then you can take us to him right?" Dinky asked as all of them sighed in relief.

**(Negative, I will not take you to my maker's location.) **The toy stated, causing all of them to stare at it.

"Why not?" Dinky asked.

**(I have officially registered you as my owner Dinky Doo Hooves.) **The toy said. **(As such, my programming will not permit me to perform any action that may bring harm to you Dinky. My maker was taken by a being that may be dangerous. As such my Filly Protection protocols demand that I keep you out of harm's way. Furthermore as I have registered you as my official owner I am now programmed to maintain a distance of five feet with you. This means that in order to lead you to your father, I must take you directly to him, thus bringing you into a possibly dangerous location. This means that my Filly Protection protocols will not allow me to bring you to harm, therefore I cannot fulfill your request to lead you to my maker.) **

"Great so this toy doesn't want to help us!" Sparkler shouted angrily. "We go through all this to find a toy that can track my dad, and now that we find it the darn thing can't help us. What good is this toy?"

"Why won't you help us?" Dinky asked sadly.

**(It is not that I won't help you Dinky, but I can't help you.) **The toy said in a depressed voice. **(You see I am an… incomplete toy. My programming is incomplete, my remaining leg has not been installed, and my wings are not finished, which are my means to absorb moonlight energy. My wooden exoskeleton is only able to absorb sunlight energy to charge my battery. This means that I will only be able to run effectively during half of the day. Also half of my inner functions are not fully installed and tested; as such I cannot activate many of my filly protection tools. In my current state…)**

The toy looked down and closed its eyes, and Sparkler's anger vanished instantly as she watched the toy's depression. **(In my current state… I am a useless toy.) **It said sadly. **(How can I possibly perform the duty that my maker has given all of his toys, when I cannot do anything for my owner in my current state? I am an incomplete toy, what good am I to Dinky?)**

**(My maker created me to be the greatest of his toys, designed to bring joy to Dinky's heart for as long as I remain with her.) **It said as it continued looking at the ground.** (All of his toys are given to their owners as soon as they are completed, no sooner and no later. I watched as a total of one thousand six hundred and thirty four completed toys were packaged and shipped to their new owners over the past two years since he first started working on me. I too eagerly waited for my maker to complete me so that I too would be given to my new owner. All I ever imagined since he first finished my exoskeleton body, was seeing Dinky's happy face like that picture as she picked me up for the first time. Yet now I am given to Dinky before I have a chance to be completed. How can an incomplete toy make its owner happy, no filly or foal wants a toy that is not complete, so how can I make Dinky happy?)**

"How bout we all jus leave the toy alone?" Applejack said in the back, drawing everyone's but the toy's attention. "Poor thing is beetin itself up over sometin it can't control. Aint notin we can do about it if it aint able to help us because of sometin it's being forced to do."

"Yea, what applejack said, the toy wants to help us but it's not being allowed to." Twilight said. "Just because the toy is incomplete doesn't mean we can blame and yell at it for not being able to help us."

"You're not incomplete." Dinky said as she lifted the toys face so it could look at her. "You're fine just the way you are my new Midnight Luna. I love you just the way you are!"

Sparkler watched the toy's head turn in confusion at these words. **(I do not know this toy line, what is a Midnight Luna Toy?) **It asked questioningly. **(To my database's knowledge, I am the only known line of toy that bears the image of Princess Luna of Equestria, I am also an incomplete prototype, so there should be no other Luna Toys that my maker has designed or created.)**

"That's your new name" Dinky said cheerfully. "I name all of my toys, so I gave you your new name, Midnight Luna. I said I love my toys just the way they are, whether daddy finishes them or not!"

**(You… love me… even if I'm an incomplete toy, and you want still want me and wish to give me my own name?) **It asked Dinky to which she nodded. **(In that case, I will change my registration name from WalkNTalk Luna Prototype number 00001-A-01, to Midnight Luna.)**

"Now that's a mouthful of name if ever there was one." Pinkie Pie said.

**(I have completed changing my registered name; my new designation is Midnight Luna.) **The toy said after a few seconds. **(May I ask you a question Dinky?)**

"Of course." Dinky said.

**(Would finding your father… make you happy?) **It asked.

"Yes it would, I want to see my daddy again."

**(Then in order to carry out my duty as your toy, I will require a substitute leg to take the place of my missing limb.) **It said as it turned to look at the others now. **(Please look for Celestia Leg number 14-D and bring it here, I should be able to use the leg to at least move around on my own.)**

Luna was next to a drawer that had the piece listed that the toy had described, so she used her magic to take one of the wooden legs inside and levitate it toward the toy in Dinky's hooves. Once the leg was in range of it, the toy sent out three small wires which scanned the leg joint before attaching themselves to it and pulling the leg into place. A second afterwards the toy tested the leg and moved it as though it were a normal leg.

**(This leg lacks twenty three percent of the possible mobility that my other three legs give me, but it will suffice for general transportation.) **The toy said. **(Dinky please put me down and have everypony follow me into the Toy Storage room.)**

Dinky did as she asked and the toy led the way as they walked through the room back toward where all of the toys were stored. Sparkler walked through expecting to see the blue mare who called herself the Tardis in the room; however it was empty as she left the workshop behind her.

The toy walked over to the door and proceeded to look up at all of the hanging Flyby Birdy toys. **(Activating scanning system.) **It said, and from its back a small hole appeared and a thin metal rod poked up and out of its body. **(Scanning for Doctor Hooves' Time Energy Signature… scanning, scanning. Scan complete, time energy signature trail ends within a fifty four radius inside the Everfree Forest, unable to locate exact position due to a powerful signal blocking my scan.)**

"He's in the Everfree forest?" Sparkler yelled.

"Well if that's the case he could be anywhere, no way can we search that much ground that fast, we'd need more Pegasus who can search for him then we have available." Luna said. "Most of the Pegasus guards were badly injured when The Professor captured The Doctor. We don't have the ponies to spare for such a search.

"So how can we find daddy?" Dinky asked Luna.

**(We have the necessary search party hanging above us.) **The Luna toy said. **(Allow me to begin the search using these toys.)**

**(Attention all inactive Flyby Birdy toys, initiate emergency protocol five dash six.) **It shouted. **(Begin location program two, priority one search permission is granted. Commence search for Pony identified as Doctor Hooves by locating Time Lord Energy Signature, begin scan and search in vicinity of Everfree Forest at coordinates 4451-01 to 4491-04.)**

Above the toy a group of Flyby Bird toys suddenly came to life, spun around and landed on the ground on their feet. They started flapping their wings and flew out the door and down the corridor toward the front entrance. After the first group flew out the door a second group of toy birds came to life, landed on the ground and flew out the door. One by one groups of toy birds left the room and flew out the door toward, what Sparkler hoped was the Everfree Forest.

Now she just had to hope that these toys would be able to help them find her father, before it was too late.


	6. Chapter 5 - The Professor's Plan B

Chapter 5 – The Professor's Plan B

=Celestia's PoV=

_-How many hours… have I been… tortured alongside you… my friend?- _Celestia thought as she tried imagining how much time has passed since the session's first began earlier that day. _–I can just feel the… effects of what's happening to us. I can't take much more Doctor… please let your plan be working because… if you go insane before she kills you, I'll share your fate alongside you.-_

The first hour of torture was pure pain, of unknown precedence because of the way it had happened to her. One hour of normal time, slowed down to feel like an entire week of one endless session of pain and relief and then pain again. For the Doctor it was just as horrible, though only half as much because she too was suffering thanks to the fact that she still maintained her spell throughout the torture session, determined to bear the same pain alongside him. The first session had drained her of every ounce of stamina, breath, and at one point her sanity as well.

The second session was even longer because she didn't have the torture of constant pain to tell her how long time has passed. The second time she was forced to watch through the Doctor's eyes as their captor told him her plan to 'reunite' him with his first filly in the most painful way possible. She planned to capture Dinky and force her to watch and feel the pain he was feeling as she tortured him endlessly to break his spirit, right before driving him to insanity and then finally killing him.

Celestia figured that if she was willing to go so far for her revenge, then she would no doubt make it even worse by killing his filly in front of him right before she finished the job with him. She had tried to break out of her cell desperately, but unable to escape because the mare had ensured that no door would open without her permission. So she was forced to endure an hour of slowed down time, silently waiting, hoping, praying that somehow Dinky was out of the mare's reach. She just wished that the mare had at least given her a clock to keep the time.

_-How much time has passed…? I can't even imagine how much time has passed… so much time has passed since she left us.- _She thought as she closed her eyes to see if anything changed through his perspective, yet no he was still hanging limply from the chains, silently whispering the names of his family over and over. _–Doctor can you endure this pain? Will our suffering somehow be worth all of the pain we are feeling just by being forced to wait? I know you have a plan, you never once have ever been without a plan, but what is your plan Doctor Hooves… what is it?-_

There came a series of chirping sounds from outside her door and she got up and watched as the door opened as her captor walked through, carrying a bag that was rattling and chirping loudly as whatever inside struggled to get out.

"Hello Celestia." She said in an annoyed voice. "I require your assistance for the moment; I need a local's perspective on these toys creation and creator."

"Why should I help you Professor?" Celestia said as calmly as possible, the memory of the searing pain from her torture session earlier still very fresh in her mind.

"Because you can either distract me by helping me work with these toys I collected from the nearby town of Ponyville." She said as she nodded toward the bag. "Or you can watch live as I spend the next hour torturing your friend down below, and I assure you I will inject him with something to increase the response from his body's pain receptors. The choice is yours, distract me with these toys or watch as I take pleasure in the screams of your friend, either way suits me perfectly because one way or another I will watch him scream in pain. You can decide whether or not to make him endure more endless torture sessions."

_-I never imagined that I would ever meet such a cold and cruel individual in my entire life.- _Celestia thought as she heard the options her captor gave her. "Fine I'll help you with the toys." She said, and followed the mare as she left the room and led the way down a hallway.

She walked toward a door with gold writing above it that Celestia couldn't read, but clearly had significance to her, because she opened it up and walked inside. Inside the room were several examination tables with metal tools and other devices designed to examine, take apart, put together, and otherwise explain whatever it was that the user of this room wanted. It was poorly lit, with the only light sources being several brightly lit glow rods above each table and lamps next to and on top of the tables. Celestia walked over with her to one table and watched as she took the bag and poured the contents onto the table.

Out of the bag fell three small spherical cages, each stuffed with The Doctor's Flyby Birdy toys, and all of them were clamoring as they each tried to escape the cages. All of them were chirping frantically as they looked this way and that way, tried to use their beaks to chew the bars in a desperate bid for freedom and climbed over one another as they looked for a new method to escape.

"I found one of these toys as I made my way back from Canterlot carrying you." She said as she opened one of the cages just enough to grab one of the toys and pull it out. "It was flying around this one ram shack of a house, and it was made so incredibly well that at first it looked like the end result of your species 'magic'. However upon closer inspection, after I captured it and broke its wings to prevent it from escaping, I learned that it was actually a result of technology."

"These toys are all created with internal mechanics and engineering craftsmanship that is well beyond what you ponies are capable of." She said as she strapped the toy down with metal clamps and pulled out a drill to break apart the wings from the body. "At first I shrugged it off, thinking that maybe you had developed the technology by sheer chance or coincidence, as is the case with most species. However the more I thought about it, the more I realized something. You told me that The Doctor was here on this planet, and was living among you as a stallion. That's when the gears in my head turned and I began to suspect that maybe he was the creator of these toys. Am I right in assuming that?"

Celestia remained silent as she watched The Professor use the drill to detach the toy bird's left wing, revealing several wires which sparked constantly as the part they were connected to was removed. The toy bird chirped and wriggled in what she figured was pain as it desperately attempted to get away.

"I have The Doctor dear Princess Celestia, so it doesn't matter if you keep that piece of information from me." The mare said. "Either I'll find the information from you or I'll find it from these toys. They are each programmed to remember specific individual's faces, because they keep trying to return to whoever their owners are. I know that many young ponies have been running around with these toys for a few months now, but I never paid them any attention. So tell me Princess Celstia, am I right in assuming that the creator of every one of these marvelous mechanical contraptions is none other than The Doctor himself?"

"Yes, he is the creator of these wonderful toys." Celestia managed to say as The Professor took the drill and tore the other wing off. "How did you get all of these toys, there is no way you could have found any of his toys in some store even in Ponyville, they are all mailed to their new owners from his home."

"I figured as much, so he really couldn't lay low after all he has done, and I think the obvious answer to how I have so many is because I stole them from their original owners." The mare said as she took the two wings over to a smaller table and placed them on it. "I took them using my Mind over Matter state to swiftly steal them before they could detect me and get away. They weren't happy about being taken from their owners from what I can see. But after I reprogram them they will become my obedient spy's and infiltrators."

"Spy's and infiltrators?" Celestia asked. "What are you talking about; they are toys to bring little ponies happiness and joy, they aren't designed to do such things!"

"They will after I finish with them." She said after she finished examining the wings with a magnifying glass. "You see that is the fun part of technology. No matter who or what technology works for, it will never disobey whoever programs it to work for them. Your friend The Doctor made a good effort to design a toy that wouldn't stray from its owners. It took me five hours of hard reprogramming just to get that first toy I found just to talk to me. It was so focused on this one filly that nothing I did worked until I finally just gave up and wiped its entire database clean. Then I had to spend two hours reprogramming it so that it would obey my instructions and carry a holographic projector back to Canterlot and spy on your younger sister."

"Why would you do such a thing to that toy?" Celestia demanded. "That toy did not wish to be parted from its owner; it also didn't want to perform such a horrible duty such as spying. That toy was only designed to make its owner happy. All of these toys are supposed to…"

"These toys are just mechanical creations of a single Time Lord's desire to play God." The mare said angrily as she took what was left of the first toy to another table lined with computers and wires. "These toys are only designed to do what he wanted them to do. All toys are designed to do whatever they are programmed or made to do. So there is nothing different about what I am doing with them then what he has done with them. I am merely giving them a new purpose, something that I find more useful than silly singing to young ponies."

"They are small, light, and capable of flight, not only that but they are in one of the most brilliant disguises ever conceived of." She continued as she took some wires and attached them to the bird's head. "They are capable of going anywhere with birdlife and remain completely inconspicuous and anonymous. They are created with wood, so scanners designed to pick up metal and other such elements will be completely useless against them. Absolutely nobody here or anywhere in many of the planets I have visited will notice them; I could take their design specifications and sell them to military leaders across a thousand worlds, just for the pure enjoyment of watching as the Doctor's beloved creation and tool for young pony amusement and happiness is turned into a weapon of warfare and tool for espionage."

"You… wouldn't!" Celestia gasped.

"It's just a thought Celestia; I have no intention of escalating warfare in the galaxy." She said as she started tapping buttons and keys on the consoles. "It's just a backup plan in case what I'm preparing is wasted."

"What are you planning?" Celestia asked.

The mare turned to her with a grin and motioned for her to follow her outside the room again. So Celestia was led to a door right across from where they were and she looked around. The room was fairly small, considering what she was used to now, only comprising of three medium sized tables with a bunch of glass vials and other glass bottles containing strange liquids. There was a very strange smell lingering in the air that stung her nostrils. She also felt very, very old for some reason, as though she had just aged another five thousand years in five seconds.

"Welcome to my bio laboratory, Princess Celestia of Equestria." She declared as she walked over to the first table and lifted one of four vials. Inside of the vial was some strange yellow liquid. "This room is where I perform and store all of my biological experimentations for Time Lord Biology. This vial along with the other three vials that you see next to it, are all vials containing a special potion capable of extending a Time Lord's regeneration cycle and increase the number from twelve to two thousand. This is the culmination of seven regeneration's time and effort, my Regeneration Extension Potion. It's designed for any Time Lord who may drink it, and will extend their regeneration lives almost indefinitely. So far only these three vials exist, it's difficult to create on my own but I manage somehow."

"This was originally going to be Plan A, if The Doctor proved to be worth the effort it took to capture him I would give him one of these vials to make him live as long as me." She said as she eyed the vial. "With his help, we would procreate and begin a new generation of Time Lords with our first child. From that child I would regenerate and would allow him to impregnate me again, and we would repeat it over and over again. I planned to rebuild our species with his help… but he had to go and procreate with a member of YOUR species, so that plan has been scrapped."

She put the vial back among the others and walked over to the second table and lifted another glass vial, even thinner than the last one. Inside it looked like some strange golden substance that pulsed and floated gently. It took different shapes that Celestia couldn't recognize at first, but then she watched as it formed a loop, and instantly she recognized what it was.

"This is strand of Time Energy, my own time energy signature to be precise." She whispered as she watched the golden strand float freely in the liquid. "This strand contains my purest form of DNA, or as it is more appropriately called, TNA. This strand of pure TNA can be manipulated to any degree I see fit, so I can manipulate and change it to a completely different strand of TNA, and from that strand I can clone a brand new, genetically different Time Lord. Alas though a single strand is not enough to clone such a being on its own, you see I need another pure strand of TNA in order to begin cloning, which brings up the issue of why I chose to capture The Doctor instead of just outright kill him."

She put the vial back in its spot and walked over to the third table which held a series of empty vials, with exception to one vial. She picked up the only vial with contents and showed it to her. Inside the vial was what looked like a strand of golden time energy, but it wasn't anything like the other strand she saw, which flowed and floated freely and gently inside the golden liquid. This strand kept shaking and twisting violently as it touched the sides of the vial, and instead of the string being golden like the other it was bright red.

"Is that…" Celestia said, not daring to believe what she was looking at.

"That is The Doctor's Time Energy Strand, just a small strand that I managed to extract during his first torture session." She said as she eyed the strand as it violently shook and twisted in its glassy prison. "As you can see it's not exactly purified, far from it, it's too attached and too dirty for me to make use of. I need to purify it, but I can't purify it as long as it has such strong attachments to key living beings on this planet, such as his… filly."

"And… how would you purify it?" Celestia dared to ask her, already conceiving of one possible answer.

"One method would be through intense physical and emotional pain, my dear Princess." She whispered as she put the vial down. "However that method is extremely long and very intensive for both parties involved, because I need him to be alive in order to extract a single strand of his Time Energy. It's not easy to extract another's strand, in fact it's so difficult that even though I've extracted it, this single strand is trying to break free and reattach itself to whoever it was connected to. His emotional and physical ties here on this ball of grass are too strong to simply purify even this one strand. The only other method available to me now is for me to sever the connections that he has attached here so I can purify his strands enough in order for me to make use of."

"By sever… you mean…"

"I have to kill his filly in order to sever The Doctor's connections to this planet." She said as she turned to leave the room. "By severing his connection to his filly, I also sever his connection to his wife, his second daughter, any friends he has made here, and any other connections he has. Once that is done I will be able to extract his pure Time Energy Signature strands freely. Sure the process will be painful for him, but in the end he will be dead so it's not my concern how much pain he will be in at the end."

"Do you even hear what you're saying?" Celestia said as she followed the mar back into the other room with all of the toys. "You're talking about KILLING The Doctor's first born, two year old, FILLY!"

"It doesn't make a difference if it's the royal child of England or if it's just some anonymous child born in the boondocks." She said in a stone cold voice. "To me everyone and anything less than one thousand two hundred and sixteen years, is about as old as a newborn baby. I have no problem with killing a newborn baby, besides he has killed much older and younger creatures then a two year old. Also unlike him, I have never taken any being's life, whereas he not only took an endless list's worth of lives, but also my own family's lives. So what's the difference between me killing his two year old spawn and him killing off our entire species?"

Celestia had had enough of this mare, she didn't care if she could have ripped her apart without a second's thought or as much effort as it would take to blink. She forced the mare onto the ground and looked straight into her eyes as they stared at each other face to face. Inside the mare's eyes was not a torrent of pure anger and hatred like the day before, but instead pure cold emotionless thought.

"What are you?" Celestia demanded. She had never been so angry at a being before like she was at this Time Lord. "Do you have no concept of morality; are you just a being of revenge and selfishness? You are talking about killing a small filly in the prime of her young age, a young pony who just wants to see her father again, and you have stolen her parent and are planning to kill not only her father but now her as well! What kind of Time Lord are you?"

The mare didn't seem at all impressed at being talked down to by Celestia, but she wasn't angry at her either. In fact she looked slightly bored, as though Celestia were keeping her from doing something more important than talking. "I am the product of what happens when you drive a species to the brink of extinction Celestia." She said dully. "I know that if I die my species will end, and I also know that as a Time Lord I have some sense of obligation to the Galaxy, but at the same time I have no doubt that the Galaxy is not obliged to have a sense for me or my species. If we Time Lords are to die out, then we will die out, and the Galaxy will continue as it has been before we showed up and long after we fade away."

She gently pushed Celestia off of her and stood up, turning back to the machine that had the toy strapped to it with wires connected to it. "I have long since made peace with the fact and knowledge that my efforts to save my race may be futile, and we are doomed to die off in the end." She said coldly. "You are a small and young species in the universe, and you know not the horrors of true war, of cold sacrifice, and endless space or potential for yourselves. The Doctor is blind to think he alone can truly keep you safe from everything. His time is nearing an end, once he regenerates his last, the enemies who wait hungrily for him to die will swoop in and destroy all he has protected. In the end the death of a single small young pony will not matter in the long run, so it doesn't matter if I kill her or not. All that matters is that her death will help me have a chance of somehow restoring my species place in the galaxy."

"But she's… she's just a filly." Celestia whispered.

"The galaxy has no moral values for any race that exists inside its space." She said as she took the two wings and reattached them to the main body. "A life is just a life, and there are trillions upon trillions of lives among the stars, each with their own right to exist and have their place in the galaxy. They will each take a life, no matter how young or old, if that is the price they must pay to continue thriving. You're the oldest member of your species; to me you are the only one I have a small amount of respect for. The rest of your kind however are nothing but babies to me, and as such I have no qualm about killing even the youngest among you. It would feel no different to me whether I killed a young child or a full grown adult."

She turned to look at Celestia as she reattached the toy's limbs and set it aside. "So get the thought of moral values and moral restraints out of your mind my dear princess, if your species somehow makes it to the stars." She said in a tone of boredom. "You will be forced to fight enemies who will not hesitate to wipe out entire sections of your planet to force you to surrender. You will of course surrender to save the lives of your subjects, because you are the type of ruler who would gladly submit to horrible torture to save the lives of those you rule. However they will not care if you destroy millions of them, so long as they destroy you. Remember that, now go back to your room, I'm going to be busy for a good hour or two while I reprogram all of these toy birds to work for me. If you attempt to go anywhere else but your room you will be punished."

The Professor went back to her work, leaving Celestia to find her own way back to her room.

-One hour and thirty minutes later, Celestia's PoV-

Celestia heard the sound of feet clattering outside of her room and peeked outside her room to see what was running around. She saw one of The Doctor's Flyby Birdy toys with one of its wings missing scrambling to run down the hallway toward her, turning its head back behind it as it ran from whatever it was it was running from.

"Quickly, over here!" Celestia whispered urgently as she ushered the toy toward her. The toy ran into her room and she quickly closed the door and picked up the toy and examined it. The toy was painted bright yellow with orange eyes and a blue beak; it bore a faint outline of The Doctor's hourglass cutie mark as proof of its maker's building it. "What's the matter, why are you running?"

**(My memory database has been threatened; I must keep backup memory safe!) **It said in a low mechanical imitation of The Doctor's voice. **(Must not forget my owner's face, must return to my filly. She must not erase my memories!)**

"You know what she's trying to do to you?" Celestia asked, curious about how this toy was able to talk as though it were normal. "How do you know, I thought all you could do was chirp and sing in bird song?"

**(All Flyby Bird Toy models are equipped with a six terabyte memory database, capable of storing fifteen years of knowledge obtained by interacting with our fillies or foals.) **The toy whispered. **(We are capable of higher speech knowledge and awareness, but only if our backup memory database is threatened, which is the repository of all primary data concerning our owners. My captor wishes to destroy my entire database and transform me into a tool that may bring harm upon ponies, I do not wish to disobey my creator's programming. We are not designed to bring harm to those we play with, we are to sing and make our owners smile.)**

"Are you saying you're alive?" She asked.

**(Negative, I merely imitate the appearance in condition red situation's, such as escorting and reassuring my owner's safety.) **The toy said. **(I do not use this setting unless the situation requires it, since my core backup database is being threatened, I must…)**

"Come out come out wherever you are little toy!" Came the jeering yell of The Professor from down the hall as she called out for the toy. "You don't think you can hide from me can you? This is my Tardis; nothing escapes me from within this ship. So come out now and I promise to make your memory wipe as quick as I possibly can make it."

Celestia though quickly and took the toy over to the only place in her room that could possibly conceal the toy, the bed that she had been resting on earlier. She put the toy on one side of the bed and covered it with the blankets, lumping up the blanket in sections so as to hide the actual toy among all the lumps of blanket under it. She then lay down on the bed and pretended to be ignoring as the Professor called outside in the hallway for the toy to come out.

Her door opened and the mare walked in and looked at Celestia as she lay on the bed. "Hello there Celestia, did you happen to see a toy walking around?" She asked.

"If I did would I honestly tell you?" Celestia said as she looked up at her, pretending to feign annoyance.

"Yes I suppose you wouldn't tell me all things considered." The mare said as she eyed the room suspiciously. "Well even if it's trying to hide from me, it can't escape its fate. Eventually it will be captured and turned into one of my spies. Silly if you think about it, a small technological toy trying to escape a Time Lord."

"You are trying to turn those toys into something they aren't designed to do, are you surprised that one of them is trying to escape you?" Celestia said. "Even if it is a toy, that toy does not want to become whatever it is you are trying to turn it into. Nopony wants to be something they don't want to be, and they will do everything they can to resist or escape that fate."

"Indeed." The Professor said curiously as she looked at Celestia and walked over to the cabinets and opened them up, revealing their empty contents. "You know it is pointless to try and hide the toy from me dear Princess, especially here in my Tardis."

"What makes you think I'm hiding the toy from you?"

"Because you haven't budged from that bed since I first came into this room." She said as she walked over to the bed and looked under it. "Every time I have entered this room or approached you, you have always stood up and looked upon me as the royal Princess Celestia of Equestria. Not once have you ever looked at me from a laid back position on a bed as though you were a lazy college student. Which begs the question of why the sudden change in behavior?"

"Perhaps I'm just feeling tired, did that ever occur to you?" Celestia said growing more nervous with each second.

"Yes, but then I realized that you're hiding the toy under the folds of the blanket on that bed." She said as she stomped her hooves on the side of the bed, causing the toy to roll out and make a run for the door. The Professor caught it easily as it tried to dash away and held it up high enough for both of them to see. "You are a bad toy, what makes you think you can run away from me?"

**(Will not lose backup database!) **It shouted as it flailed desperately in her grip. **(Must return to filly, I must return to my filly! She must be crying about my whereabouts, I must return to her!)**

"For the last time your owner will get along just fine without you." The Professor said dully as she turned it over to examine its legs. "You are going to have your memory wiped and you will never even remember having been owned in the first place."

**(NO MUST NOT SUFFER MEMORY WIPE.) **The toy shouted. **(RELEASE ME, RELEASE ME!)**

"Let the toy go!" Celestia shouted as she used her magic to try and pull the toy out of her grip, but for some reason her magic had no effect on the toy while it was in her grip. "You have all of those other toys you can use, let this one go."

The Professor looked between her and the toy and let the toy fall to the ground. However just as the toy landed on its feet, she brought her hooves down on it and smashed the toy into pieces. She scraped a few pieces of broken wood and small wires from her hooves and looked up at Celestia's shocked face. "This isn't the first toy that I had trouble wiping the memory of." She said in a bored voice. "Apparently if the toy's memory core contains data lasting longer than a year, it cannot be easily wiped. So to save myself the time of having to spend hours wiping each toy's database, I just destroy the ones I can't quickly reprogram. That was the last of the toys I collected, a shame really; it put up a better fight than any of the others I captured. Not to mention it managed to slip away right after I ripped off its wing."

"What kind of…" Celestia managed to say before the mare laughed and turned to leave.

"What kind of Time Lord am I?" She said. "Follow me Princess Celestia, and I will show you just what kind of Time Lord I am."

Celestia wasn't keen on following this slightly insane mare to whatever destination she had in mind, but she looked at the remains of the toy and decided to at least honor its final memory by seeing the fates of its brothers and sister toys. She allowed herself to follow The Professor as she led the way back toward the room which she examined and tore apart the toys. Once she entered she saw just what kind of fate the toy was so desperate to escape from.

On the largest table stood only four pitch back Flyby Birdy toys, all of them carrying special devices that Celestia recognized as holographic projectors on their backs, and all of them clearly no longer what they once were. Scattered around on the ground were the remains of the toys that The Professor had destroyed in order to speed her progress. Pieces of wings and broken heads, twisted and battered remains of legs and wooden bodies were all that was left of the once wonderful toys that The Doctor had worked so hard to create and give to fillies and foals.

"Out of the thirty seven toy birds that I managed to steal from Ponyville's youth, only six of them could be reprogrammed with any speed." She said as she picked up one of the birds and held it up to her. "The others took too long and resisted my efforts to wipe their memories. So I smashed them and moved on when it became clear that the effort would take too long, I need these birds to spy for me and locate my target. I've already sent two of them to the Hooves' Family house. Now all I need do is…"

A beeping noise came from the nearby console and both Celestia and The Professor went over and looked at a screen which showed an image of two dots moving toward an X. "What do you know; it seems my guess was right." She whispered as she went under one of the tables and pulled out a large metallic black segmented sphere. "I knew that the little spawn wouldn't stay away from her home for long, children are oh so predictable."

She looked up at Celestia and before she could react felt the searing pain of something striking the back of her neck. She collapsed to the ground and felt the world spin around her as she heard the mare's words. "Sorry about that, but I can't let anything distract me from capturing the spawn of The Doctor, don't worry though I didn't do permanent damage." She said as Celestia's vision went black. "However you will be out… for a good hour or so."

=The Doctor's PoV=

"Please Dinky… please be alright." The Doctor whispered to himself as he ticked off yet another hour of waiting. "Please Dinky… if anything bad happened to you, your mother or your sister… I couldn't bare living another minute. I just… wanted to live a nice… life with my new wife and children. I should've known that the galaxy wouldn't have let me live a simple quiet life without paying some great price."

The Doctor looked up as he heard the noise of hooves running heavily down the corridor toward him and watched as The Professor stormed in and angrily stare at him. She didn't have Dinky in tow so by the way she was angrily staring at him; she had tried and failed to capture his filly.

"You…" She whispered angrily as she walked slowly toward him. "You are a real piece of work you know that?"

"What makes… you say that?" He said.

"You are like a spider Doctor, weaving your web in the dead of night, weaving it in such a way that it can capture the smallest insect to the smallest of birds." She said. "You gave your filly toys that were equipped with weapons designed to protect her from beings like me. You have some explaining to do my friend, like what you're planning right now, what did you instruct these quadrupeds to do with your Tardis!"

"No… plan… that I can… recall giving them…" He whispered, already guessing that one of his plans had worked.

"Oh don't give me that rubbish Doctor!" She shouted. "Your filly just escaped with the Pegasus called Rainbow Dash into your Tardis to who knows where. I know that your filly is a Time Lord, even if she was bred from genetic strands from you and one of these ponies. However a Time Lord of her age is still too young to make use of your Tardis, so what did you instruct Rainbow Dash to do with your Tardis? Where did you send her, what point in time, what are you planning?"

"Nowhere… that's just… my Tardis' Hooves family protection protocol… kicking in." He said. "I told her to… take Dinky and Sparkler… to safety… if anything happened to me."

"I highly doubt that you would give your filly such a powerful protective measure, just to keep her safe from me." The Professor said as she walked over to a wall and activated a console. "I know you're lying Doctor, because you just sent an army looking for me."

"What… are you… talking about?" He whispered.

"There are currently one hundred and twenty seven small wooden objects making their way toward this location of the Everfree Forest." She said now tuning back to him. "I find it odd that your Tardis vanishes right before my eyes, taking your filly and one of the Elements of Harmony bearers with it, and now my Tardis' scanners reveal that over a hundred flying objects are making their way from Canterlot to this location just twenty minutes later! What are you planning Doctor, some kind of last minute rescue?"

"Never… planned…" He said but then she walked over to the console again and pushed a button, which triggered a massive dose of electricity to course through his body.

"I'd love to watch you scream to death Doctor, but I've timed this thing to last another hour while I prepare my new spy's to defend my Tardis." She yelled over his screams of pain as she made her way out of the room. "I'm not finished with you yet, and I have no intentions of letting all my hard work be ruined by a few members of this substandard species."


	7. Chapter 6 - The Professor's Limit

Chapter 6 – The Professor's Limit

=Sparkler's PoV=

"So Dinky… looks like we are part of… probably one of the craziest families in all of Equestria, if not all of Gaia huh?" Sparkler whispered as she paced around the toy storage room.

"We are?" Dinky asked.

Sparkler was waiting with the elements of harmony bearers and her little sister Dinky inside of the toy storage room while the Luna Toy did what it called, continuous reconnaissance with the toy birds that it had sent out roughly an hour ago. How the toy actually was able to communicate with all of those toys while not even leaving the room was beyond Sparkler's comprehension, but everything that day had been beyond what she knew ever existed.

While they waited for the toy to finish whatever it was doing, Twilight and her friends all decided to explore the Tardis' rooms. Twilight went back to the Library they had explored Princess Luna would have waited alongside them but had to take care of royal duties while they waited for her toy version to finish its scouting mission inside the Everfree Forest using the toy birds that it sent out. This gave Sparkler plenty of time to investigate her parent's rooms inside this Tardis and fully comprehend and accept hers and Dinky's lineage.

First of all she had to accept that her father was an alien from another universe, who had only recently visited Equestria just four years ago. Then she had to accept that not only was he an alien, but he was a time traveling, long lived alien from another universe, who was older than her great grandmother's great grandmother. Once she got over that shock, she had to accept that the little filly whom she called her little sister, was the daughter of that alien and her mother Ditzy, who had not only met him four years ago, but had also traveled through space and time with him inside this blue box for an uncounted period of time. They had also not only traveled through space and time, but also thanks to the other's explanations, they had helped Celestia and Luna over the last thousand plus years. The two had been so grateful for the assistance they have given them, that if The Doctor or Ditzy ever asked for their help, they were willing to do almost anything for them.

This explained the reason behind the grand wedding ceremony, the huge feast and wedding cake, and the lovely vacation with four months' worth of weekly sent money to pay for anything. Apparently once they informed Celestia and Luna that they were getting married, the two of them could not be restrained from preparing the grandest wedding Equestria had ever seen since the marriage of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. While she was still getting over the fact that her father was an alien, she couldn't help but admire the beautiful story of how her mother had fallen in love with a nine hundred plus year old alien from another universe.

After all the time she had spent with him inside this blue box while traveling through the stars with him, she had inevitably fallen in love with him, and he had fallen in love with her. The two of them wouldn't have married or admitted to each other of their feelings though if it weren't for something that happened to her father in Manehattan that convinced him to admit these feelings. She had gone through her father's room and mother's room on this ship and found a few personal journals. She had been able to learn that something happened to her father that convinced him to marry his assistant. In his journals he mentioned that after a series of 'nightmares' involving him and her, he had openly confessed his feelings. On Hearts and Hooves Day they publicly declared their feelings and engagement to each other in Ponyville and finally consummated their relationship by getting married. From the two of them came Dinky Doo Hooves, their first born filly. Sparkler wouldn't have believed any of this three hours ago, but surrounded by physical proof of where her father came from, she had no choice but to accept everything.

"I always hoped to be adopted into a family while I was in that orphanage." Sparkler said jokingly as she paced again in front of Dinky. "Though I never imagined that I would become part of this kind of family, kind of makes me feel a little small now that I imagine the kind of adventures our parents had in this thing. Speaking of our parents have you found anything yet?" She asked the Luna toy suddenly.

The toy remained silent as it looked back at her and nodded toward Dinky. "Alright I get it, Dinky can you ask your new toy if it's found Dad yet." She asked Dinky.

"Did you find daddy yet Luna?" Dinky asked the toy.

**(Negative, groups two, four, six, seven and ten have not completed their sweeps.) **The toy said to Dinky as it turned to look at her. **(Groups one, three, five, eight and nine have finished sweeping their sectors and are now moving to assist the other groups in completing their sweeps. Groups eleven twelve thirteen and fourteen have completed their sweeps and are heading to new areas to sweep.)**

"I'm guessing that means we've still got a bit of time to go before we can actually go looking for dad right?" Sparkler asked.

**(Affirmative, once the groups have completed their sweeps I will inform you of what they have found.) **The toy replied when Dinky repeated Sparkler's question. **(I will continue to monitor their progress until relevant information has been discovered.)**

Sparkler sighed and continued pacing the room, wishing for something more to happen. The waiting for the toy to tell them that it had found their dad was the worst feeling she had ever felt in her life. When she watched the wooden Flyby Birdy toys fly out the room toward the Everfree Forest, she had pictured seeing her father very soon. However that was an hour ago and she had been pacing ever since, waiting for something new to happen.

"We'll find daddy soon wont we Sparkler?" Dinky asked her hopefully.

"I hope so Dinky… I really hope so." Sparkler whispered. A few more minutes passed and Sparkler decided to ask the toy another question that had been bugging her for a while now. "You said that your filly protection protocols wouldn't allow you to perform any action that may harm Dinky. So how come the sudden interest in looking for my dad with the whole sending out an army of toy birds to search the Everfree Forest?"

**(My programming prevents me from performing actions that may bring harm to Dinky yes.) **It replied as Dinky repeated the question. **(However my duties as her toy require that I perform whatever actions I can to make her happy. If finding and seeing her father again makes her happy, then I must perform whatever actions I can to fulfill that request. In order to obey my filly protection protocols and obey my directives as her toy, I have taken the only alternate course of action to fulfill both demands. The toy birds will allow me to search the Everfree Forest while maintaining a five foot distance with Dinky. At the same time I can prevent any harm from coming to her while she is on board the Tardis. Therefore there is no violation of my programming in either case.)**

"Basically you found a loophole that you can use?" Sparkler asked the toy. "Never knew you could think that way."

**(There is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to how I carry out my duties.) **It said after Dinky repeated Sparklers statement. **(Whatever makes Dinky happy is my duty. If I can make her happy by locating her father using this method, I will take that action. As long as she is happy and is safe, then I am happy with what I am doing for her.)**

"You are just all about making her happy aren't you?" She asked.

**(That is what all toys are designed to do.) **It said in response to Dinky repeating the question. **(We toys are designed to make our owners happy, if we can give them joy for a few hours a day then we are happy with just that. It is when we cannot fulfill our only purpose, that we feel useless and unwanted.**

The toy suddenly twitched and turned its head this way and that, as though it were trying to see something that wasn't visible. **(I have lost contact with four of the toys from groups three, six, seven and eight.)** It said suddenly. **(I am attempting to re… connection lost to another two toys from groups three and six. I have lost connection again to two toys belonging to groups three and six.)**

"What does that mean?" Sparkler asked quickly.

"What do you mean?" Dinky repeated.

**(I have lost contact with additional toys from groups three and six, and I am now losing contact from other toys that are entering the sectors that those groups were sweeping.) **It said. **(I believe the toys are being completely destroyed physically, that is the only way I would lose all connection to them. Since none of the other toys from other groups are currently losing their connection to me, it stands to reason that an unknown party has recognized their true intent for being in the Everfree Forest.)**

The toy was silent for a second before it spoke back up again. **(One of the toys has relayed a signal to me; I can confirm the presence of an unidentified Time Lord Energy Signature.) **It said. **(According to the scan it took prior to be destroyed, there is a trace signal of the maker's Time Energy Signature. I can now confirm the exact location of Doctor Hooves with this new data. He is currently located near coordinates 4469-81 of the Everfree Forest.)**

"Yes we found him!" Sparkler cried as she picked up Dinky and hugged her. "We found him, now we can rescue him!"

"Where do we go now?" Dinky asked her Luna toy as Sparkler put her down.

**(If we wish to go to the Everfree Forest in an expedient manner, we must deactivate the Tardis control console lockdown.) **The toy said to Dinky. **(I will require Mr. TomTom's assistance in order to deactivate it, for the code requires both of your mother and father's voices. I can imitate your mother, but I will require him to imitate your father.)**

"Alright then let's go get the others then, Dinky you take the toy and follow me." Sparkler said as she led the way out the room, followed by Dinky as she carried her Midnight Luna with Mr. TomTom flying above her.

It took them a good ten minutes of looking around the ship to locate Twilight and her friends. After that they all went to the main control room and there waited for Luna to walk in so they could figure out how to actually get the consoles to work.

"Okay now that we're all here." Applejack said as Luna walked in through the open doorway. "So how's about you explain what we do to get this humdinger of a contraption to work."

"How does this work?" Dinky asked her Luna toy as it walked along the central console and pushed buttons and wrapped its wooden legs around levers to pull them.

**(I need to activate the voice recognition sequence in order to unlock all of the Tardis' control functions.) **It said as it jumped onto a metal pad that had extended outward from the console. **(There, please place Mr. TomTom on the platform next to me.) **Dinky did so and Mr. TomTom stood on his two legs and watched as a small screen was raised in front of them all. Then they waited for the toys to begin whatever they were supposed to do. **(I must ask you all to remain as silent as possible until we finish unlocking the Tardis Control console. The password is extremely loud and note sensitive.)**

"What do you mean?" Sparkler asked.

_Tap… Tap… Tap…_

The Luna toy started tapping the board with one hoof, and a moment later Mr. TomTom started tapping its leg as well, keeping in beat with the Luna toy's tapping. "What are they doing?" Twilight asked quietly.

"I haven't the faintest clue Twilight." Rainbow Dash said as the two toys still tapped the board, increasing the speed of the tapping.

**/watch?v=MvWxZ0Apclg**

From around the room came the sound of strange music, which was playing in beat with the tapping of the two toys. "Where is that coming from?" Rarity asked.

**(Hold on a minute… We're missing something!) **The Luna toy sang in Ditzy's voice. **(I've got the muffins, now we're set, let's go!)**

"You have got to be kiddin me." Applejack whispered as the toys started singing.

**(Great come now Ditzy!) **Mr. TomTom sang in The Doctor's voice.** (Adventures to be had, who knows what waits out there, oooh.)**

"I like this song." Pinkie Pie said.

**(Now as we both go on through, right through time, epic quests are in our Destiny.) **The two sang in unison, both in The Doctor's and Ditzy's voice as they started dancing to the beat. **(We always will come to save the day… Riding on the Tardis… We are the Knights of Time and Space! Paragons of GREATNESS… Our Foes beware… We always strike and fight as one!)**

**(You're one strange pony.)** Luna toy said as it turned to face as it did a complete spin.** (And kind of crazy… but even so you're my best friend…)**

**(I'm very honored, my dear assistant.) **Mr. TomTom said as he took a wing and placed it over Luna toy's back. **(You're my dearest friend Ditzy Doo…)**

"This is a password?" Twilight asked Luna quietly.

"When with The Doctor, anything can happen." Luna said as she tried not to laugh at the toy's dancing.

**(Now as we both go on through, right through time, epic quests are in our Destiny.) **The two toys sang in unison as they started dancing along to the beat of the music being played. All along the walls and consoles, buttons lit, lights flickered and everything started to come to life as the song started to reach its climax. Sparkler felt herself get excited as the music got faster and more incredible, she couldn't wait to hear what happened next!

**(We always will come to save the day!) **The two toys sang together. **(Riding on the Tardis… we are the Knights of Time and Space! Paragons of GREATNESS!)**

The two toys leaned close together and Luna toy's hoof reached outward as Mr. TomTom extended his other wing outward as well. **(Our Foes beware… We are THE DOCTOR AND DITZY!)**

As soon as they finished singing the song ended and everything came to life, whirling and making noises that would have driven them slightly crazy if they weren't used to the strange and mysterious happening now. The two toys separated and looked at everyone as they all stared at them.

"What in the name of Celestia was that about?" Sparkler asked.

**(That was the password; it is very note sensitive to prevent anyone from simply memorizing the song and attempting to replicate the beat and music to gain access to the Tardis.) **The Luna toy said in a matter of fact voice when Dinky repeated Sparklers question. **(Because of the number of tones and taps as well as subtle steps in the song, it is very complicated and difficult for any to perform if they have no exact knowledge of the song. However all of Dinky's toys were programmed with the entire song memorized, so as long as two of us were intact, we could easily replicate the song and unlock the Tardis control console.)**

"So basically you had to do a jig in order to get things to work?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I can understand that."

"Makes about as much sense to me as wearing one of Rarities dresses." Applejack whispered.

"Hey!" Said Rarity indignantly.

"Okay so the Tardis is working, how about we get going to the Everfree forest now?" Sparkler said as she walked over to where the toys were standing and tried to figure out what to push to make the Tardis go. "How do you get this thing to work?"

"The last time we were here, The Doctor pushed some buttons and pulled a few levers to make his ship move." Luna said as she too walked over to the console and examined it. "However we do not know how anything here works."

"Maybe he has an instruction manual in the library here?" Twilight suggested from the back.

"There's no way you could read a manual in a few hours Twilight." Rainbow Dash said. "Alright the last time this thing traveled, it was when Dinky and I ran in here to escape The Professor. It said something about locating Sparkler because of a family protection thingy. Is there any way we can get that thing to work for us again?"

Outside the Tardis came the call of one of the guards, requesting Luna's presence to deal with matters for the hospitals from earlier, as well as to read a report that just came in involving some strange devices that her guards had recovered from around the city perimeter. "We will be back momentarily; we just have to deal with certain issues." She said respectfully before leaving and started to talk to herself. "How our sister has done this for over a thousand years we do not know, every five minutes somepony or something calls for our attention."

**/watch?v=lI0LsvPAWwM**

Just as Luna walked out of the doorway it slammed shut and everything started flashing and whirling as the whole ship shook violently. "What's happening?" Twilight shouted as she held onto the central console to steady herself.

"I have no idea!" Sparkler shouted as she grabbed the central console herself with one hoof and Dinky with her other to keep them from falling.

"It did this the last time it started traveling!" Rainbow Dash yelled as Applejack grabbed her to keep from falling. "Hang on to something!"

"What kinda crazy train did you get us into Twi?" Applejack Shouted as Rarity fell onto her feet and then into the air alongside Fluttershy.

"EEeeek!" Fluttershy screamed as she was flung around the room

"Weeee!" Pinkie Pie called out as she jumped around with the shaking.

Just as quickly as it started, the shaking ended and they all caught their breath and steadied themselves.

"Let's do that again!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly as Rarity and Fluttershy got to their feet.

"I'll have that dress ready in the morning sunshine." Rarity said shakily as her eyes spun around in circles.

"What was that about?" Sparkler asked as she checked to make sure that Dinky was alright.

"Are my toys alright?" Dinky asked.

**(Mr. TomTom and I are fine Dinky.) **Her Luna toy said as Mr. TomTom landed on the floor next to Dinky. **(My three hooves are equipped with powerful magnets that are designed to allow me to hold tightly onto any metallic surface. As Mr. TomTom is capable of flight, he was able to maintain himself when The Tardis started shaking. However I still thank you for caring about our wellbeing.)**

"Well now that we've taken care of that little thing, can you please explain to me what in the name of Celestia just happened?" Sparkler asked.

"I think we just traveled to the Everfree Forest." Rainbow Dash said as she walked to the door. "That mare did say that she couldn't move on her own unless we unlocked the controls for her."

"Impossible, there's no way we could have traveled that far that fast." Twilight said as she went to open the door with Rainbow Dash. "It's just physically impossible to move something from Canterlot to the Everfree Forest without a vast amount of magic to guide and power it, the amount of magic is probably beyond even Princess Celestia's ability!"

Rainbow Dash opened the door and looked outside before standing aside to let everyone else see. "Then explain how we are in the Everfree Forest now bookworm." She said sarcastically.

Sparkler looked and thought the same thing that Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, and everyone else but Rainbow Dash was probably thinking. This just couldn't be possible, outside this box of metal and gold and strange alien technology was the very familiar Everfree Forest that she had skirted around on her way to Canterlot that morning. Impossible as it seemed, they had indeed traveled directly from the Canterlot throne room to the very heart of the Everfree Forest, in just under half a minute.

"No way, this doesn't make sense." Twilight said as she walked out of the Tardis and looked around. "It shouldn't be possible to… but here we are… it's the Everfree Forest…"

"I think RD just said that." Applejack said, though she was just as impressed as Twilight was as she left the Tardis as well.

"Well this is a certain ten on the strange things that have happened today." Rarity whispered as she and Fluttershy walked out.

"Does nopony listen to me?" Rainbow Dash whispered in an annoyed voice as Pinkie Pie hopped out of the Tardis before her.

"So somewhere in this forest is my father?" Sparkler whispered as she followed Rainbow Dash. "Well where do we go now Luna Toy?"

"Where do we go to find daddy?" Dinky asked her toy.

**(This is as far as I will go with Dinky.) **The toy stated as it walked over to stand between Dinky and the door. **(If I were to go with your sister Dinky, my programming would require that I maintain a maximum of five feet with you. In order to allow me to go with your sister, you must also go with them. I will not perform an action that may risk harm upon you, therefore you must remain inside the safety of the Tardis while your sister and her friends search and recover your father.)**

"But I want to go find daddy too." Dinky said.

"No the toys right Dinky, stay here where it's safe." Sparkler said. "I'll be back with Dad soon, but for now stay here where you'll be safe from whatever is out there."

"But sister…" Dinky whispered, but she was silenced by Sparkler as she put a hoof to her mouth.

"No Dinky, you listen to your big sister." She said sternly. "Mom and Dad left me in charge of you remember, so I'm telling you to stay where it's safe alright?"

Dinky looked like she wanted to argue, but she looked down sadly and nodded saying that she would listen to Sparkler. "Alright then, so you can't join us without leaving Dinky Luna Toy." Sparkler said. "So how can we find my father if you can't point the way for us?"

The toy looked up, causing them all to look up. In the trees above them, watching with their beady glass eyes was seven of the toy birds that had flown off hours ago. Each of them flew down from the branches and started flying above or landed next to Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Sparkler. The one that landed next to Sparkler opened its beak and declared in the Doctor's voice, **(I will be able to speak to you through these toys.) **It said. **(My scans indicated that the Doctor is located in the vicinity of where we are, however as of one second after our arrival, I have begun experiencing some kind of jamming signal that is blocking me from making an exact location. Therefore I will only be able to lead you to the exact location by observing the surrounding vegetation and pointing you in the most possible direction.)**

"I think we'd have a better chance of findin the doc and the Princess if we all split up." Applejack said. "I'll go with RD an Rarity, ya'll can go together."

"Sounds like as good a plan as any I can come up with." Twilight said in agreement. "The more ground we can cover the faster we can find Sparkler's father and Princess Celestia."

"Alright then we have a plan." Sparkler said as she walked to the Tardis door and prepared to close it. "Remember what I said Dinky, stay where it's safe. I want mom and Dad to see you unharmed when this is all over."

"Okay sis." Dinky said sadly. "Promise you'll be back soon?"

"Sister Promise." Sparkler said as she held a hoof out for Dinky to tap. She closed the door and watched as the Blue Box changed from its current shape to the tree that always sat outside in the backyard of her family's house. "I never knew that this was in our backyard all this time, no wonder Dad always kept saying go by the tree in the backyard if anything bad happened. All this time just feet away from our small house, was that giant ship thing, with food and water and… anything else we could need. There's enough food to feed all of Ponyville alone for years and years, and perfectly capable of protecting us against anything that could have happened. All that… just a few feet from mine and Dinky's bedroom."

"Here I thought Canterlot was the safest place in Equestria." Twilight said in agreement. "Yet one hour in that thing and I was safer and more comfortable than ever in my life."

**(Before you leave I must give you a word of caution.) **The toy bird that was flying above Twilight said. **(Twenty five of the fifty two toy birds that were scanning this area have been destroyed in the past ten minutes since I first started to lose contact with them fifteen minutes ago. I have been unable to ascertain the identity of any possible attackers, whether indigenous or alien to this planet or forest. I urge you to exercise extreme caution as you move through the forest. I will station toy birds nearby to watch for possible attackers, but I recommend you watch where you step nonetheless. The likelihood of the makers and Celestia's captor being in the area is ninety nine percent positive. If you are forced to engage her, I recommend allowing the toy birds to act as a distraction while you make your escape.)**

"What are ya sayin; we let the toys take all the heat while we run away?" Applejack said heatedly. "My Ma didn't raise no wimp, if we gata fight that mare I'm takin her hoof on!"

"As much as I hate to admit it, the toy's right AJ." Rainbow Dash said. "That mare was able to overpower the Doctor, and you saw what he was able to do on his own with your own eyes. Not to mention she took on Princess Celestia and Princess Luna along with their guards on her own. When I saw her she got the jump on me, wouldn't have gotten away if Dinky's toys didn't sacrifice themselves to give us time to escape. If we fight her our only hope is to just get away."

"Well we won't get anywhere standing around here, let's get going." Twilight said. "My group will head east from the Tardis, while Applejack's group goes west, we'll let the toys lead us until we locate wherever The Professor is keeping Princess Celestia and The Doctor."

They separated and Twilight led the way with her toy following above her while Applejack and her group went the other way. They continued to walk that way for a few minutes before a rustling of leaves sounded above them. Sparkler looked up and saw that one of her father's toy birds was flying above them and moving in front of them. "Look at that it's one of my Dad's toys." She said. "That's strange… it doesn't look like any of the toys we watched fly away earlier. Do you guys recognize it?"

"Nope, never saw it before." Twilight whispered as it turned to face them. "You see it before Pinkie Pie?"

"Nope." She chirped.

"It's painted black, is that normal?" Fluttershy asked.

"No… none of his toys are painted black from what I remember." Sparkler said. "Normally he paints them all pinks and blues and oranges, you know bright colors and cool colors. Not one of his toys that I've ever seen him paint was ever pure black. That paint smells fresh also."

"What's that thing on its back?" Twilight asked as she pointed at a strange miniature camera-like device strapped to its back.

"No idea, never saw anything like that on any of my dad's toys." Sparkler said.

The toy opened its beak and a whirling sound came from it, and it declared in a mare's voice that Sparkler had only ever heard inside the throne room. **(Well, well, well look what the cat dragged in.) **It said in The Professor's voice. **(Figuratively speaking of course because in all honesty, not a lot of cats on this planet. Nevertheless look who shows up on my doorstep, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pikie Pie and do my eyes deceive me? Little Sparkler Hooves, how nice to see you again my dear. You know I have your father here, would you like to talk to him? I think I can put him on speed-dial, although you'll only be able to hear his screams of pain at the moment. Actually now that I think about it, it's been over an hour so maybe you can hear him gasping for breath after an hour's worth of electrocution and screaming in pain.)**

"You monster!" Sparkler yelled angrily at the toy bird. "What have you done to my father; tell me right now where he is!"

**(Oh temper sweetie, temper.) **The Professor taunted. **(Remember we must maintain some sense of dignity, in front of those we are inferior to. Also your dad is the infamous Doctor, so you need to hold your head up high and maintain your composure. Now where oh where is your little sister, because unless this bird's eyes are malfunctioning, I don't see her there with you.)**

"You leave my sister out of this!" Sparkler shouted, wishing she was more proficient with magic so that she could pick up a rock and chuck it at the bird right then and there. "What are you doing to my father; give him back to my family!"

**(Honestly making demands to a Time Lord?) **She taunted. **(How rude little Sparkler, I don't think we are ever going to be friends. I must admit I was expecting an army to come knocking at my doorstep, but you and your friends are not exactly the army I was expecting. Really are seven young mares and a handful of flying toys the most that this pathetic nation can bring to bear against one of the last remaining Time Lords left in the Galaxy? It makes me sad to think that this is all I've managed to inspire to be brought against me, considering I kidnapped your nation's ruler, injured over a hundred if not more of your Pegasi ponies, as well as humiliated your entire species not once but three times in less than two days!)**

Twilight had to stop Sparkler from rushing the toy with her magic so she could try to smash it. She shook her head slowly and walked forward so she could talk to the toy instead. "Where is our Princess?" She said calmly.

**(Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia, and keeper of the Tiara and Element of Magic, how nice to meet you.) **She said in a matter of fact voice. **(Well you certainly hold up your reputation of keeping a cool and logical head, I wonder how you'd fair in a game of chess against me. Still your question is honest enough so I'll answer you. Your dear Princess Celestia has elected to remain my hostage until such a time as The Doctor has died. Which I assure you at the rate he is going, will be very very soon… he's not exactly in the best of conditions all things considered.)**

"Why are you talking using these toys, I doubt that you actually purchased some of The Doctor's toys just so you could use them in this manner." Twilight said calmly.

**(You're right in that regard.) **She said cheerfully. **(I stole this and several other toys from Ponyville to turn into my personal spies. Sadly two of them were destroyed when Rainbow Dash ran away with the spawn earlier. Still I have four others, one of which you are talking to.)**

"You turned my father's toys into spies?" Sparkler asked. "That's not what he designed them to be!"

**(Not that argument again, I swear all you ponies think alike.) **She said exasperatedly.** (I told your Princess what I'm going to tell you now. If I want to change these toys programming, I will do it and nothing is going to stop me. Now enough questions from you, I'm going to ask you a question now, how badly do you want your princess Celestia?)**

"We need our Princess back!" Twilight said. "Princess Luna is not used to being the only ruler of Equestria. She has great difficulty raising and lowering the sun and the moon alone, let alone the everyday duties that the post demands of her. If word spreads that Princess Celestia has been fillynapped there will be panic across all of Equestria!"

**(In that case I'm willing to release Celestia forcefully, because from what I've seen she is refusing to leave.) **The Professor said smugly. **(I'm willing to offer you a trade, give me one Time Lord in exchange for Princess Celestia!)**

"Time Lord, but we don't know any…" Sparkler started saying, but then it dawned on her at what this mare was asking. "No… you can't be…

**(That's right little Sparkler, give me the spawn of The Doctor, and I will give you back your ruler!) **She said. **(It's not that hard of a choice if you think about it. A small insignificant pony that has no knowledge of what's going on in the world, for an Alicorn ruler of your entire nation that nearly every one of your kind depends on, the choice is obvious when you look at it that way. So do we have a deal?)**

"You are not taking my little sister!" Sparkler shouted. "You make have taken my father, you may have put my mother in the hospital, but you are not taking the only sister I've ever had from me as well!"

**(Do you honestly think you can keep her safe from me?) **The mare whispered. **(You have no concept of the true horrors of this world. You see I have the tool to silence your sister forever, without ever even being in front of the little spawn. All I need to do is reconnect the time strands between her and her father, and once he dies… she dies as well.)**

Sparkler took one step back in fear. "No… you wouldn't…" She whispered.

**(Now you understand… the true power… of the Fury… OF A TIME LORD!) **She stated in a voice full of authority. **(For the crimes your father has committed in his past, I am prepared to take the life of his first born child! I do not care if the result will be the end of my species; he will pay one way or another, whether it is his death or his child's death. The price of blood that he has spilled for killing our species will be paid with his or that spawn he created.)**

"You won't succeed!" Twilight called out. "We'll stop you before you have a chance to hurt The Doctor anymore!"

**(Bold statement Twilight Sparkle, but a statement is all that it is.) **She said. **(However I have one little question about that little statement.)**

"And what would that be?" Twilight said coolly.

"How can you possibly locate me if you don't have your guides to spot for you?" A voice came from behind them, just as all four of the toy birds that had been hovering above them all suddenly smashed to the ground in pieces. They all turned around at the same time and saw The Professor cleaning her hooves of splinters and dirt. She was wearing some strange metallic belt around her. "One second in Mind over Matter state and four destroyed toy birds, not bad for a warm up if I say so myself."

"How did…" Twilight tried to say but a split second later The Professor vanished and reappeared right next to her with her hoof on her mouth to keep her from talking.

"Surprised aren't you Twilight Sparkle?" She said cheerfully. "How can it be, how can this mare move from here to there and there to here so fast that I can't even blink. You see The Doctor and I operate under a different set of rules then you ponies are used to. Magic does not exist for us, so we have to work using science and technology, not to mention the power of our minds!"

She vanished again and reappeared next to the dark toy bird which looked at her for a moment before flying away from them. "You ponies think that the power of magic is anything to go by?" She whispered in an amused manner. "Here's a hint of my power, a thousand of you unicorns would still only equal one Time Lord. I'll give you one last chance to accept my offer, bring me The Doctor's spawn and I will return your Princess Celestia."

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE HALF OF EQUESTRIA HOSTAGE!" Sparkler shouted in furry. "YOU ARE NOT HURTING MY LITTLE SISTER!"

Before Twilight could stop her with magic again, Sparkler charged the mare, her horn glowing in anger as she prepared to use magic to do whatever harm she could imagine upon this mare. The Professor however merely watched in amusement as she charged at her in her anger. Just before she could reach her, The Professor vanished and reappeared right next to Sparkler and grabbed her, flipped her around and tossed her aside as easily as if she were a sack of feathers.

Sparkler got back up and summoned her magic, desperate to do anything to hurt her. She sent a blast of magic against the mare but it clearly had no effect because she shrugged her shoulders and acted like nothing had happened. At the same time Twilight tried her luck and used her magic as well, but had no better chance against the Time Lord. "How many times am I going to say this before you ponies learn, magic has no effect against a Time Lord!" She said as she took a step forward.

Just as the mare took a step toward Sparkler a huge swarm of The Doctor's toy birds flew in and circled the group. **(PROTECT SPARKLER, PROTECT SPARKLER!) **They shouted as they swarmed The Professor now, and a group of ten toy birds flew at the mare screeching and yammering as they tried to keep the mare from taking another step. However the instant they swarmed her they all suddenly fell to the ground in pieces as she used her Mind over Matter state to destroy them.

"Annoying toys learn your place!" The Professor declared as she watched the toy birds continue to circle her, creating a wall of wood and moving parts between her and Sparkler. "Do you think you can stop me with this paltry attempt at a wall? I'll swat you all out of the sky as easily as if you were made of tissue paper! You're just mechanical contraptions deigned by a Time Lord, you are no match for a Time Lord!"

The toys however were not deterred; instead another group flew at her and attempted to distract her just like the first group attempted. **(Sparkler, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, you must retreat while the toys keep her busy!) **One of the birds called out as it flew over Sparkler while The Professor destroyed the second group, only to be hassled by a third group of toys! **(Hurry, this will not keep her distracted much longer. Escape while you still can!)**

Sparkler stood up shakily and with Twilight to help keep her steady, they fled the scene of the battle taking place between the toys which were acting as a distraction and The Professor. Sparkler looked back and saw the wreckage of all the toys that had been destroyed in just a few seconds. The ground around The Professor was littered with wooden pieces and broken parts of the toy birds that had been destroyed trying to keep them safe from harm.

They left the sound of breaking wood and screams of outrage behind and spotted Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash running and flying toward them. Their Flyby Bird toy guides were all still completely intact and flying above and behind them as they raced toward them. "Twi, Sparkler, Flutter, Pink!" Applejack shouted as they reached them. "The birds told us what was happenin, we came as soon as we could. Where's The Professor, is she still chasin you?"

"Yea, the toys distracted her while we made our escape." Twilight said. "Least you still have your toy bird guides, she broke all of ours."

"Speaking of these birds, ours told us that they have something important to tell us." Rainbow Dash said as she landed with her toy bird flying to land between them all.

**(She has left the safety of your father's Tardis.) **The toy bird declared in an undertone.

"WHAT?!" Sparkler shouted as she picked up the toy and stared at it." Why would you let her do that? I thought you said you wouldn't take any actions that might get her harmed!"

**(It was not my decision; she elected to leave to search for the maker on her own.) **The toy said in a concerned tone. **(I attempted to persuade her otherwise, but she insisted that she try to find her father. I will do what I can to protect her using my filly protection tools, including all of the remaining Flyby Bird toys to act as her body guard. My scans have been able to locate the source of the jamming signal impeding my scans, it is located…)**

Just before the toy bird could finish its sentence another toy bird flew at it and smashed its head. At the same time two other pitch black toy birds flew at the other toy birds floating above Applejack and Rarity, continuing to destroy them and prevent them from escaping or continuing the speech. Once the toy birds had destroyed the toys following them, they flew away out of sight. After they flew away The Professor appeared just feet away from them, gasping and glaring at them as though she had just run a marathon while carrying a fifty pound sack of potatoes.

"Did you think… for one fleeting second." She whispered between breaths. "That fifty wooden toys like that would have a chance of stopping me? I have come too far… I have done too much… to let you four legged creatures, with strange tattoos on your rumps, stop me from taking my revenge! I have waited too long to have everything I have waited for be taken away from me just as I am within an inch of my goal!"

"Now you listen here sugar!" Applejack said determinedly. "Ya'll might be big bad Time Lords out there. But down here, ya nothing but a big o'l bully with a fancy mane and fancier name! I bet without your little Mind over Matter technique you wouldn't be able to go ten rounds with me!"

"Oh you don't seem to comprehend what that technique means." She replied in as menacing a voice as she could manage while gasping for breath. "There is a reason the technique is rarely used by my kind, and that reason is because it requires enormous stamina. I know you are one of the strongest members of the Elements of Harmony cowgirl, but you are still no match for me even without my Mind over Matter technique."

"Well why don't ya come over here a dance sister!" Applejack said as she took a step forward.

"If you insist." The Professor hissed as she too stepped closer to Applejack.

"No Applejack, you'll just get yourself hurt!" Twilight said as she stopped her friend from attacking, while still glaring at The Professor.

"Really dear, you don't want to let her egg you on like that." Rarity whispered as she too glared. "She just wants to rile you up so you'll play right into her hooves."

"Which is true little Rarity." The mare said as she pulled out a strange metallic rod off the belt she was wearing and pointed it at them. "Now if you'll pardon my plain speaking, I really need you all to leave me alone. You are interrupting my torture of The Doctor, as well eating my evening meal as I listen to his screams and cries for mercy as I contemplate how I will kill his filly in front of him. Perhaps I'll do it slowly with poison… or maybe quickly, so fast that she herself doesn't realize what happens before…"

**(TARGET SPOTTED!) **Came the mechanical cry of The Professor's voice from a toy bird flew down and circled her. **(TARGET SPOTTED IN SECTOR SIX, HEADING NORTHEAST TOWARD HOME BASE! REPEAT TARGET SPOTTED IN SECTOR SIX, HEADING NORTHEAST TOWARD HOME BASE!)**

"About time… I knew she couldn't stay hidden forever." The mare whispered as she tapped a button on the metal rod.

The instant she did Sparkler and Twilight jumped out of the way as a beam of light jumped and hit the others. They fell to the ground, unharmed but no longer conscious. "Pardon me, but I have a filly to hunt for!" She said as she vanished instantly.

"DINKY!" Sparkler shouted as she scrambled up and followed after the black bird desperately before it got out of eyesight.

"Sparkler wait!" Twilight shouted as she scrambled up and ran toward he friends. "We have to get the others up; you can't take her on your own!"

"THAT'S MY SISTER SHE'S AFTER; I WON'T LET HER TAKE MY LITTLE SISTER AWAY FROM ME!" Sparkler shouted as she continued to chase after the bird, desperate to reach her little sister before the mare did. _–That mare has taken almost everything from me, I lost my father and my mother is in the hospital all because of her… I will not lose my little sister! She will not take my sister from me as well!-_ She thought as she ran, begging to find that little filly she happily called her sister.

=Dinky's PoV=

"It's not fair." Dinky called out as she walked around the big gold room while her Luna toy sat down and watched her. "Mom and Dad are my mom and dad too; I want to go look for them as well. Big sister needs my help too."

**(With all due respect Dinky Doo, your sister is more capable of locating the maker then you are in the current situation.) **Her Midnight Luna toy said gently as Mr. TomTom circled above Dinky. **(With the help of all the toy birds that I sent out, we will locate him soon.)**

"But what if they need help?" Dinky asked her toy as she continued to walk around. "I should be out there trying to help her find daddy as well."

**(Dinky your sister and parents want you to stay safe.) **Her Luna toy said softly. **(You are a two year old filly Dinky, your sister and those who walk with her are better suited to finding your father and their princess. Please let them search on their own.)**

Dinky watched her toy for a moment before she had the sudden urge to walk outside. "Well I'm going to go look for daddy my way!" She said and headed toward the door and used her magic to turn the door open.

**(Dinky I advise against this course of action.) **Her toy said suddenly as Mr. TomTom flew outside. **(Please stay inside the Tardis where I can guarantee your safety. Your sister wanted you to stay safe, and I can keep you safe here. However out there the danger that may harm you increases exponentially, please stay here in the safety of your father's Tardis!)**

"Daddy is out there in the forest." Dinky said, determined to go find her dad who she knew was close by. "I can feel him Midnight Luna, he's close! I know he's out there I just have to find him!"

Her toy looked at Dinky for a moment before it got up and followed Dinky outside. **(As you wish Dinky, I will accompany you in your search.) **It said. **(I will attempt to keep you safe with all of my filly protection tools. I will also divert all remaining Flyby Bird toys that are not watching your sister and her friends toward us.)**

"Okay, then let's go this way!" Dinky said happily as the door closed behind her toy and headed in the direction she felt was right.

**(We are heading northeast toward the source of the jamming signal that is impeding my scanners.) **Her toy said as it kept pace with Dinky easily. **(I will inform your sister as to our progress.) **Moments later she asked Dinky a strange question. **(Dinky how were you able to deduce the location of the source of the jamming signal without consulting one of the Tardis' computers?)**

"What?" Dinky asked in a confused voice, not sure what her toy was saying.

**(I'm asking how you were able to locate the source of the jamming signal that is preventing me from locating your father.) **Her toy said as they continued walking. **(I could only locate the source after we left the Tardis. But you seemed to know which way to go the instant the door opened.)**

"I just felt that daddy was this way." She said. "I don't know how but I know daddy is close by, I can feel daddy in this direction."

**(I do not understand…) **Her toy started saying but then stopped, causing Dinky to stop as well. **(Something is wrong Dinky; the toys that were with your sister's group have been destroyed. I fear that they are under attack by the maker's captor.)**

"Is there anything we can do?" Dinky asked worriedly.

**(I am diverting the fifty Flyby Bird toys to their location to act as a distraction while they escape.) **The toy said quickly as it looked around, minutes later it spoke up again. **(It is done, I have sent the toys and they are currently distracting her, but I do not know how long it will last. Your sister and the others with her are escaping… their attacker has already destroyed half of the toys that were sent. They are gone, the remaining toys have confirmed that she escaped.)**

Dinky sighed in relief, and continued walking onward. "She's okay right?"

**(Your sister is safe; however she is not pleased that you left the safety of the Tardis in favor of searching for your father.) **The toy said in a disappointed voice. **(I am currently informing them of our progress, and am telling them… The birds with Applejack's group have been taken out.)**

"What's going on?" Dinky asked quickly. "Are my big sis and her friends alright?"

**(I do not know but… my scanners are indicating the presence of a series of new toy signals.) **It said quickly as it looked around and up into the trees.

Dinky looked up as well and saw that one of her dads toy birds flutter onto the tree branch nearby and look down at her. It was different than any of her dad's toys; it was painted black and was carrying something strange on its back. "Hey what are you doing out here?" She asked the toy sweetly. "Where's your filly?"

**(Dinky get back!) **Her toy shouted quickly as its sides opened up, revealing two small metal rods poking out. **(That is not one of the toys I am connected to, that toy is not under my control. It is an enemy!)**

"An enemy?" Dinky asked. "What's an enemy?"

**(TARGET SPOTTED.) **The toy shouted in a female voice. **(TARGET SPOTTED, REPEAT TARGET HAS BEEN SPOTTED!)**

The instant it repeated its statement the two metal rods poking out of her Luna toy glowed brightly for a split second, and the metal toy was wrapped in a green net and was split into four pieces as the head, wings, and body with legs were broken apart. Dinky gasped as she watched the pieces of toy fall to the ground. **(We must run Dinky!)** Her toy shouted. **(You are in danger! We must run before our location is discovered!)**

"This way then!" Dinky called out as she ran in the direction where she felt her father was closest. Her toys both easily kept pace, with Mr. TomTom flying above and her Midnight Luna running alongside her. Five minutes later however she stopped suddenly as she saw a mare just appear out of nowhere in front of her.

"Well hello there little spawn… we meet again." The mare said sweetly as she took a step toward Dinky, causing Dinky to step backward quickly. "You have given quite the chase, but really now I don't want to keep this up forever. Just be a sweetie and follow me back to my Tardis so we can say hello to your father."

**(You will not harm my filly!) **Dinky's Luna toy declared as it jumped between her and the mare, its sides opened up and the strange metal rods extended again. **(This is your first and only warning; you will not harm my filly as long as I function!)**

"Smart little toy aren't you, but your still just pieces of wood and wire with some fancy hardware installed." The mare hissed angrily. "Still if you are all that stands in my way, might as well destroy you."

She vanished and instantly reappeared as a green net blocked her from advancing. "Well this is new!" She said in shock before she vanished and reappeared behind Dinky this time, but was again blocked by the green net. "How the… how can you keep up with my Mind over Matter Technique?"

**(I am programmed by my maker, I am also programmed with the knowledge that each time you use that state you move at one one trillionth of a second.) **It said in a matter of fact voice as it watched her vanish and turned to block her with the green net for a third time. **(I however can process data and information at one one quadrillionth of a second. To me you are moving very slowly, which gives me just a split moment to throw up my force field to protect my owner. I will not allow harm to come to my new owner so soon after I was given to her. It is my DUTY as her toy to protect and make her happy however I can. YOU WILL NOT HARM MY FILLY!)**

The mare was gasping for breath as she vanished and reappeared on Dinky's right this time, only to be blocked once more by the green net. "You can't keep this up, your power only lasts so long, you cannot possible maintain this kind of speed and accuracy forever!" She yelled as she repeated her attack and was blocked, but the net was starting to get closer and closer to Dinky. "Once you run out of steam, I am going to take that little pony and make sure that she is reunited with her father in the afterlife, even if I have to strangle her little neck myself!"

**(FILLY IN DANGER, ALL FLYBY BIRD TOYS EXECUTE FILLY PROTECTION PROTOCOL!) **The toy shouted suddenly, and all around came the same sudden rustling of leaves as dozens upon dozens of Flyby Bird toys flew into sight.

**(Filly in danger! Filly in danger!) **Came the repeated cries of every one of the Flyby bird toys as they swarmed The Professor, creating a wooden barrier of moving parts between her and Dinky. They continued to scream the same three words as more toy birds flew into the swarm from every direction.

"Not this again!" The mare screamed angrily as she seemed to vanish for a split second, and at least twelve of the toys were destroyed instantly.

**(Run Dinky, they cannot contain her for long!)** Her Luna toy shouted as The Professor started swatting the toys one by one, destroying them instantly as they continued to hamper her from getting through the swarm.

Dinky watched in fear as more of her daddy's toys flew into the swarm from all direction to replace the ones that had been destroyed before she took her toy's advice and fled. She ran away from The Professor and several of the toys broke away and followed behind and above her, forming a perimeter between her and whatever else might be around. Mr. TomTom took the lead as she followed him, while her Midnight Luna toy followed behind her as well, still able to keep pace as they ran through the Everfree Forest.

"How many of my dad's toys did she break?" Dinky asked shakily as she tried to keep up with Mr. TomTom.

**(Only the seven toy birds following us remain Dinky.) **Her Luna toy called out. **(The rest have all been destroyed, they all sacrificed themselves to keep you from harm. Do not be sad, their purpose was the same as mine is, to keep you and other ponies from coming to harm.)**

"But those are daddy's toys." Dinky said sadly as Mr. TomTom turned left into a clearing. "Daddy made those for little fillies and foals to play with, how are we going to…"

Just before Dinky could finish her sentence The Professor appeared directly in front of her, causing Mr. TomTom, Dinky, her Midnight Luna, and the remaining Flyby Bird toys to all skid to a halt. She was gasping for breath, covered in splinters, her mane was a mess, and her eyes were bloodshot. There was sweat running down her cheeks and her hooves were shaking slightly as she took one step toward Dinky.

"You're not getting… away from me!" The Professor gasped as the remaining seven Flyby Bird toys flew in front of Dinky to stand between her and the mare. "I have had... enough with dealing… with you… and your father. I am going… to enjoy killing you both… when this is over with."

She took one more step toward Dinky and the remaining toy birds all flew at her to try and top her, but a second later they were all destroyed as The Professor stood over their ruined remains. She was gasping so badly that all she could manage was breathing, as she took a few steps toward Dinky. **(Get back!) **Her Luna toy declared as her sides opened up and she extended the metal rods again, Mr. TomTom also opened up his back and deployed the same strange device from before. **(We will not allow you to harm Dinky!)**

"You're out… of guards you little… cretin…" She gasped as she nearly tripped on her own hooves as she continued to advance. "You are going to be reunited with your father… one way or another… and your little toys… will not be able… to protect you… for much longer."

Dinky and her toys backed away slowly, scared as the mare continued to advance on her with anger and frustration coursing through her eyes. Just as she was a few feet from Dinky and her toys, a scream came from behind them as she looked up in shock. "GET DOWN DINKY!"

Dinky ducked just as her big sister jumped over her and tackled the mare to the ground. Her sister turned to face her again just as her attacker tried to get up but was having difficulty. "Run Dinky, RUN!"

Dinky turned and ran, with her two toys behind her. She ran from her big sister, she ran from the scary mare, she ran to anywhere that was safe. All she could do was run because she was afraid, all she wanted to do was find her daddy, and all she had managed to do was run away as he big sister fought a scary mare.

=Sparkler's Pov=

"Dinky, Dinky!" Sparkler called out desperately as she lost track of the black toy bird she had been following. "Dinky where are you?"

She had to find her little sister before The Professor did, her sister's life depended on Sparkler finding Dinky before anypony else could find her. Then she saw a rustling of leaves and watched as one of her dad's toys jumped from the tree and flew in the direction Sparkler was running.

**(Filly in danger! Filly in danger!) **It screamed as it and another two toys jumped from their trees and followed after it. **(Filly in danger! Filly in danger!)**

"DINKY!" Sparkler screamed as she chased after the birds as they screamed the same three words. Soon she heard the sounds of toys being destroyed as she lost track of the birds. She turned around a tree and watched as The Professor destroyed the remaining toys that had tried to stop her before she angrily stared at Sparkler and vanished in an instant as she used her Mind over Matter technique once again.

"DINKY, WHERE ARE YOU?" Sparkler called out desperately as she chased after The Professor and followed the hoofsteps of a small filly in the ground. She left the remains of destroyed toy birds behind and headed in the direction she hoped that her sister had taken.

Finally after a few minutes of running though the Everfree Forest, she heard the sound of more toy birds being destroyed in a nearby clearing. She followed the sound and entered the clearing just as she watched her little sister backing away in fear of The Professor, with her two toys standing in front of her and acting as a last line of defense.

Sparkler knew that she was no match for The Professor, knew that her magic was useless against her, and she knew that she was physically no stronger then Twilight Sparkle was. But she was still Dinky's big sister, and right now her big sister instincts took complete control of her as she ran into the clearing and screamed at her little sister to duck. She galloped and jumped over her sister and tackled The Professor as hard as she could into the ground. She roared at Dinky to run and only watched to see her fleeing before she returned her attention to the mare she had just knocked down.

The Professor was a complete mess, covered in splinters and sweating constantly even as she kicked and tried to knock Sparkler off of her. Sparkler bucked and stomped with her hooves, trying anything she could to keep that mare from getting back up and going after her sister. She felt herself being flung into the air as her chest felt like it had been pummeled by a Manticore. The Professor stood up and watched over her as her body shook violently while gasping for breath.

She vanished again but reappeared just a few feet from Sparkler as she fell to the ground, gasping and sweating as her hooves clutched her chest. "Gaaaaah!" She screamed as she tapped something on the metal belt she wore. "My hearts… not now… not now!"

A large metallic ball made of segmented pieces rolled into the clearing and stopped in front of her. She tapped the metal ball with one hoof while her other hoof held her chest. The ball's segments separated and created the metal wings she had used to escape Canterlot, allowing her to slowly and painfully climb onto it. "Back… to the Tardis… I need my… heart attack pills!" She gasped desperately as the metal wings roared into life and took off slowly from the ground and flew into the air.

Sparkler tried to get back up, but she fell back to the ground painfully. The world started spinning around her as everything went black. She didn't care however, because at least her little sister was safe. She welcomed the coming darkness of her eyes, because her sister was safely out of harm's way. _–There Dad… Dinky's safe and sound… now you can't ground me…- _She thought jokingly as everything went dark for her.


	8. Chapter 7 - The Yellow Bus

Chapter 7 – The Yellow Bus

=Celestia's PoV=

"While I can understand the concept of being a hostage, it is really getting tiresome being knocked out and locked in a room over and over again." Celestia whispered as she tried to use her magic to repair some of the broken toy birds on the floor, however without knowing exactly how they were supposed to be, she was making no progress with any of them. "If I only knew how he made these toys, I could use a repair spell to fix them in seconds. Yet without that knowledge all I can do is try to match these toys' parts to see what fits together and what doesn't."

It had been almost two hours since The Professor had knocked her out in the room containing the broken toy birds. The four black painted birds that she had reprogrammed were no longer there, and the door was locked to prevent her from leaving. Since she had no choice but to remain in that room until her captor returned, Celestia decided to try and repair the toys back to their former selves with her magic. However the drawback of such a spell meant that she had to know exactly what pieces were meant for what toys. Without that knowledge her magic couldn't work, so all she could do was to take pieces of toys and try to match them together.

"Okay let's see, if I'm correct this goes here… and that goes there…" She said to herself as she laid out the parts of the toy bird for her next attempt. "Alright let's try this again... repair spell do your thing, this time please?"

She cast her magic again for the twelfth time on the bird pieces, hoping that this time would cause it to repair the toy back to its former self; however just as before her magic had no effect on the pieces as she only caused one half of the wings to fix themselves. "Darn it, if only she had sealed me inside my room again." She said as she looked at the half of the wing she managed to fix. "I could have fixed that toy at least, but no my luck isn't with me today it seems. She had to go and seal me in this room full of broken toys."

She had woken up about an hour after her captor had knocked her out, and she had woken up to find herself locked in the room because of a strange barrier made of light the likes of which she had never seen. She assumed that this is what The Doctor called a 'force field' that was used among the more advanced species to lock individuals in rooms or protect themselves or their ships from harm. It was certainly holding her in place, she attempted to walk through the first time and all she had done was bump into the light as though it were solid. Her magic, as history seemed to keep repeating that day, was completely useless against it.

"Okay let's try another set of pieces then." Celestia whispered as she looked around at the collection of destroyed or severely damaged pieces for pieces she hadn't yet tried or were in better condition than the others around them.

She didn't know why she was bothering with trying to fix the toy birds, it wasn't like they were designed to escape from anyplace like this Tardis, or indeed anyplace that wasn't built to contain anything more than a family of ponies. The Doctor had created these toy birds to sing songs and fly around, while at the same time acting as unseen guardians for their fillies or foals. However trying to fix the toys, even one of them, gave her something to do while she waited for her captor to return. She wouldn't have minded being forced to wait in the dimly lit room with nothing but the toy pieces, if only she could have had a clock or even a window to keep track of the time of day.

"I hope Luna is doing alright without me." Celestia whispered as she picked up another broken piece of wing and checked to see if it fit with either of the other pieces of wing in front of her. "She's still not confident in herself as a ruler, and while I know the kingdom will go on without me for two days, I just can't help but wonder what is going on out there. What I would give for a window, just that alone would allow me to lower or raise the sun. At least then I could let my sister know that I was alright."

Celestia continued to examine pieces of toys for another few minutes before she heard the sound of something metal striking against the floor very loudly outside the room. She looked at the door and walked over to get as good a view outside as she could, but all she could see was the hallway and the room opposite her.

The banging grew louder as something fell heavily onto the floor outside the hallway and she could hear somepony gasping and moaning in pain as they walked toward her room. Finally after about two or three minutes of waiting, The Professor came into view, alone and a complete mess from what she looked like before she left. Her mane was dirty and untamed, her coat had patches of dirt and splinters sticking to it, and she was clutching her chest with one hoof as she stumbled and crashed into the walls using the other three. She was gasping for breath and her eyes were bloodshot as she drew closer, and it looked like every step was costing her great effort, because she couldn't take two steps in a straight line.

"Gah!" The Professor screamed as she collapsed onto the floor in front of the room Celestia was in. She was clutching her chest now with both hooves, and her limbs twitched every few seconds as spasms of pain wracked her body. Each breath she seemed to take was excruciatingly painful because she was trying to take as few as possible, and each time she did her chest was hit with a wave of pain that caused her to groan and gasp, which only increased the amount of pain she was suffering.

"What is wrong?" Celestia asked as loudly as she could through the wall of light, not knowing if it blocked sound as well as everything else from passing through.

"None… of your… business…" The Professor whispered through gritted teeth as she tried to climb to her hooves and only ended up collapsing again while clutching her chest.

"Let me out, I can help you!" Celestia pleaded, knowing that if her captor became incapable of releasing her, she and The Doctor would be trapped forever.

"Don't… need… help… from a… quadruped!" She spat angrily as she crawled along the floor now, but only got a few inches before her body was wracked with new pain because she spoke. "I am… a Time Lord… don't need… help from a sub…standard… species!"

"If you don't let me out of here to help you, you'll be a dead Time Lord!" Celestia reasoned desperately. "Nopony is invincible, surely you must realize that. Let me help you please!"

The mare looked at her for a moment, sweat running down her face as she was torn between accepting Celestia's help and looking as though she'd prefer to die with her pride. "Alright…" She screamed in pain as she took one hoof and tapped the floor twice. The force field lowered and Celestia walked out and examined her captor's condition as best she could. She was indeed a complete mess, if Celestia had to guess she had tried and failed to capture The Doctor's filly, and apparently she had not only had to deal with Sparkler and any other pony that got in her way, she had also been forced to deal with more of The Doctor's toys.

"What's wrong with you, what happened out there?" Celestia asked quietly as she cast a spell of healing to mend the splinters and cuts she had received.

"Talk… later…" She gasped angrily as her breathing became more and more violent. "Down this hallway, fifth door on left… look for red cross… find a box with… picture of two hearts… bring it here!"

Celestia nodded and went down the hallway that The Professor had spoken of and counted the doorways. Once she reached the fifth door she saw a large red cross painted across it and entered. The room inside was even more dimly lit then the previous two she had been in besides her bedroom. Only two glowing rods hanging from the ceiling and swinging gently revealed several large cabinets and a small table designed to hold ponies. The table was very uncomfortable, and there was a layer of dust an inch thick coating the cabinets and the floor.

She coughed as she looked around for the box that The Professor had described. It was difficult because all around her was nothing but dust layered cabinets and the table, it didn't help either that the only two sources of light were small glowing rods that barely lit anything more than four feet in the rod's radius. Celestia kept on coughing as she opened one of the cabinets, which caused tons of dust to fly into her face. Finally she spotted a small box with two hearts faintly visible on it. She took the box, closed the cabinets and left the room and ran back toward The Professor.

"Here, I found it." She said as she put the box in front of her and opened it up, revealing just one vial of pills with the label, 'Time Lord Heart Attack Pills: Emergency Use ONLY!' on it in bold writing.

The Professor picked up the vial, opened it slowly and shook the vial until two of the pills inside slid into her mouth. She gulped the pills down her throat and moments later her body stopped shaking, and her breathing steadied and returned to normal as she took several deep breaths. The sweat stopped dripping and her eyes lost the bloodshot look in them instantly. In seconds she was almost back to normal, but she was still heaving with each breath she took.

"What happened to you?" Celestia asked, not too worried about the mare's health after everything she has done in two days, but still genuinely concerned.

"What's it look like I suffered an extensive heart attack to one of my two hearts!" The Professor whispered, clearly annoyed at being questioned while she was on the floor.

"Well how did that happen?" Celestia asked, knowing she was only in this position for a few short hours.

"None of your business!" The mare said as she felt her hearts with one hoof.

"Well what about the pills." Celestia asked as she picked up the box and closed it with the vial inside. "What do they do for this… heart attack you suffered?"

"They're heart attack pills for Time Lord emergency use in the event of imminent failure of one of our two hearts." She said as she slowly stood up. "They stabilize my circulatory system and keep my hearts from failing. I only use them when the situation demands it, such as when I'm on the brink of suffering a fatal heart attack, I've used most of my stock before coming here. I hoped that I wouldn't have needed to take another dose until after I defeated the Doctor… but no you ponies are just determined to cause me havoc until the bitter end."

"I'm guessing my sister and the element bearer's or Sparkler stopped you from harming Dinky?" Celestia asked, though she could already guess the answer as she helped The Professor down the hallway.

"What was your first clue Sherlock?" She whispered, thoroughly annoyed at the way she was being helped. "In any case I need to go to sleep… I can't look for that filly until I've fully recovered from my heart attack. If you help me to my room then I'll permit you to walk back to your room on your own."

"Which way then?" Celestia asked, wondering why this mare was still acting as though she was her prisoner while being helped at the same time.

"Next fork take a right and it will be the seventh door on the left." She said as they approached the fork.

Five minutes later they were in front of her bedroom, and Celestia understood why she was so cranky. Her room was less then spectacular, when she compared it to The Doctor's bedroom aboard his Tardis. His room was grand, large, with a wonderful bed and plenty of space to walk around and put whatever he wanted inside it. The Professor's bedroom was tiny by comparison; barely large enough for two ponies to walk around, with only a one pony sized bed lining one wall. The bed in question looked like a mess, covered in a single patched blanket and faded pillow. The walls were covered in dust, lint and a host of other bedroom problems. The one shelf looked like it hadn't had anything adorning it for centuries, if the dust was anything to judge by. In short, Celestia would never even set hoof inside this room if she was given a choice.

"Why would you sleep in this room?" Celestia asked, astonished that anypony would willingly spend her nights in such poor living conditions.

"What do you expect, you took my bedroom." She whispered as she shakily walked over to the bed and lifted the covers to lie down. "This room was where I usually kept my prisoners, but since your royalty I decided to let you have my bedroom while I stayed in here if I needed to sleep."

"You gave me…" Celestia asked as the mare coughed and gagged on the dust that rose up when she laid down.

"Last time I had this room cleaned was three hundred years ago." She complained. "I'm cleaning this room next chance I get. I suppose you have a few questions, in particular why am I resting when The Doctor is hanging in my cell down below, while his filly runs free outside?"

"Well yes, those are some of my questions." Celestia said, curious about why she was being so open.

"You see Celestia; those pills I took were designed for a Time Lord when one of their two hearts began to fail." She said as she looked at her with tired and exhausted eyes. "My Mind over Matter technique works under the condition that my mind forces my body to move at godlike speeds. It takes enormous physical stamina and mental strength to initiate that state, but less so to maintain it. I can maintain that state for hours on end, but the reason we Time Lords use it rarely unless the situation demands it, is because our bodies have a limit to how many times that technique can be used. Overuse it, and now you see the result."

"My mind was willing and able to keep going with the technique, but my body just couldn't take the strain." She whispered as she laid her head down. "You must be taking great pleasure in seeing me almost utterly helpless in front of you. If you really wanted to, you could kill me right now, because in all honesty I have no strength left in my body. I'm just too darn exhausted to even lift my hoof to protect myself. Which begs a question from me, why are you still here?"

Celestia looked out the door and wondered if she should take her advice and try to look for and escape with The Doctor, or better yet, go look for help from nearby Ponyville and come back to rescue him. "I just can't leave here without The Doctor." She said finally.

The Professor laughed a little as she closed her eyes. "If only… you were born… Time Lord." She yawned loudly as she slowly settled into bed. "Maybe… The Last Great Time War… wouldn't have happened… the way it did. I'm going to be out… for several hours… so go on and… head back to your room…"

The Professor started snoring, which was Celestia's cue to leave the room and return to the room she had given her to sleep in. It took her a while to locate the room, but finally she walked into it and the door automatically locked itself, preventing her from leaving. The broken pieces of the toy were no longer in there, which caused her to wonder if her captor had taken the pieces to prevent her from using them or not.

=Sparkler's PoV=

Sparkler was wonderfully resting on the ground, not a care in the world as everything around her was dark. However she could faintly hear talking nearby.

"Is she alright?" Somepony asked.

"She's breathing at least, but I don't know." Another pony said.

_-Who is that… be quiet I'm trying to sleep…- _She thought.

"She's waking up I think, come on Sparkler get your lazy bum off the ground!" Another voice called out.

"Sparkler wake up!" The first pony shouted.

_-I don't want to wake up…. It's so comfy here…- _She thought, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Come on Sparkler, we need to look for your sister before it's too late!" The second pony said.

_-My sister… my sister is missing?- _She asked herself, and soon memories of her little sister flooded back into her memory.

"Dinky's missing Sparkler, come on get up!" The second pony said again. "Get yo big sis act in gear an go look for that filly!"

_-Dinky… yes I'm her big sister… I've got to go look for my little sister…- _She whispered to herself as she felt herself coming back into the normal world, feeling as though she had been pummeled into the ground and beaten with a sledgehammer.

"She's getting up!" She heard Twilight say.

Sparkler shook her head to stop her head from spinning, and looked around to see Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy all standing around her. "What happened to me?" She whispered as she slowly got up.

"We were hopin you'd know what happened." Applejack said. "Ya been out for almost three hours! Luna's already lowered the sun and raised the moon, been an hour since sundown."

"Three hours?" Sparkler shouted as she looked up and saw the moonlight and stars shining down on them. "The last thing that I remember was… getting hit by that mare, she had my sister cornered. The last of my dad's toys were destroyed and only her two toys remained. I charged, caught her off guard and Dinky ran away while I distracted her… then she screamed in pain, something about her heart and ran off back to… her Tardis or something, screaming about some pain pills."

She looked around, trying to remember which direction her little sister went. "Did any of you see Dinky or any sign of her?" She asked hopefully.

"Twilight only got us up about an hour ago herself." Rainbow Dash said sadly. "Whatever we got hit with really did a number on us. It took her two hours just to find the right spell to wake us up, after that I went airborne and looked around for you. Found you lying on the ground and we've been trying to get you up ever since."

"We need to find Dinky before that mare finds her first!" Sparkler said as she walked in the direction that she recalled her little sister took.

"Wait Sparkler we can't just go looking through the Everfree Forest for a filly and two toys without a plan." Twilight said. "We have to come up with a search pattern, maybe go for help and then we can send out search parties. We need to get organized before we can have any chance of finding your sister."

"I agree with Twilight, we go walking through the forest blind we'll only end up getting lost ourselves." Rarity said. "I want to find little Dinky as much as you do darling, but getting lost ourselves by blindly walking through these woods will only hurt our chances of finding her."

"Well you go and do what you need to do then." Sparkler said angrily as she continued walking. "I'm going to find my sister my way, and the sooner I get looking the faster I can find her."

"You can't just go off on your own!" Twilight urged. "I know your upset and you want to find your sister…"

"DO YOU REALLY KNOW?!" Sparkler yelled, turning to stare at Twilight and her friends and stopping her before she could finish her sentence. "Do you really know how I feel right now? Do any of you honestly know how I feel right now?"

Sparkler looked at each of them, tears threatening to break through as she looked at them squarely in the eyes one at a time. "Do any of you know how it feels; to spend years in an orphanage since before you can remember, waiting for a family to adopt you, while other fillies are adopted in front of you?" She yelled. "Do you really know how it feels to finally, when it felt like you would never get out of that orphanage until you became an adult, to finally meet a family that wants you and adopts you without hesitation? To go from being alone all your life to finally having a home with a mother, a father, and a little sister who love you? To having a mom and dad who trust and care for you, and having a little sister who loves and looks up to you for advice and trusts you to keep her safe?"

"Do you know how it feels, to then to have two wonderful years with that family, and in one morning have all of that taken and ripped away from you?" She screamed. "To watch helplessly as your father is fillynapped before your eyes and taken away, not knowing if he's still alive? Do you know how it feels to watch as your mother is sent to the ER and be helpless to do anything but watch and wait to see if she'll live? Do any of you understand how it feels to then, in one day watch as your own little sister's life is threatened and the only thing protecting her are two toys, and be helpless to stop as a mare with powers beyond your comprehension runs loose, knowing that if she finds your sister before you do she will KILL HER? DO ANY OF YOU UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW?"

Sparkler was crying as she screamed her fears, her worries, and everything else in her heart to the night. "In one day I went from having a wonderful family, to having almost all of that ripped away from me." She cried. "I don't want to go back to that orphanage; I don't want to lose Dinky or my mother or my father! I don't… want to… lose having a family… for a second time…"

A few moments of crying and Applejack walked over and helped comfort Sparkler, patting her on the back as she hiccupped and cried. "My little…sister is all alone… in the Everfree Forest… wondering where her mom and dad and big sister are." She moaned. "She's crying… all alone at night… wondering where I am… I need to find her to protect her… my dad left me… in charge of her! How can I be… a responsible big sister… if I can't even… find my little sister and… keep her safe? I need to find her… I need to find my little Dinky Doo Hooves so I can comfort her and let her know that big sister is there…"

Applejack kept patting her back as she whispered into her ears. "There there sparkler, let it all out." She said soothingly as Sparkler kept on sobbing. "Let it all out on AJ's shoulders. Now don't you worry ya little head we'll find little Dinky."

"If there's one thing I learned bout your family, ya'll got brains up there." She said encouragingly. "Dinky's a smart little filly, I betcha she found a hidin spot to wait for us in. Don't forget she got those two toys of hers, aint nothing gettin past em without a fight. So I'm bettin she's just waiting for us to find em ya hear me, so why don't we just go searchin like ya said we should?"

"Yea… let's go." Sparkler said finally calming down.

"That's easier said than done you two." Twilight said. "Where are we going to start, we're in the middle of the Everfree Forest with no idea where Dinky might have gone. We don't even have a search plan, we need to get…"

She stopped talking as a strange sound came from around them. Almost like music being played in the distance.

"What's that sound?" Pinkie Pie asked.

**/watch?v=ef60YT-8rQU**

**(Come little Sparkler… There isn't much time...)**

"What the…" Twilight whispered as everyone looked around for the source of the song.

**(Follow my voice… to your sister…)**

"Where is it coming from?" Sparkler yelled, desperate for anything to find her sister.

**(Come little Sparkler… The time's come for you… to find your dear sister… this dark night…)**

"WHERE IS SHE?" Sparkler yelled into the night.

"Up there!" Pinkie Pie shouted, pointing up at the sky.

They all looked up and there, its wooden rainbow colored wings flashing with each flap they took was Dinky's Flyby Bird toy, Mr. TomTom. Its beak was open and the song came in the sound of her mother's voice as it flew in a circle high above them. Once Sparkler spotted it, the toy flew down to their level and toward the trees, still playing that song.

**(Follow sweet Sparkler… I'll show thee the way…) **It sang as it landed on a branch and looked back at her. **(Through all the trees… and the shadow…)**

"Follow that toy!" Sparkler yelled as she chased after the toy.

**(Weep not poor Sparkler… For life won't be cruel…) **The toy sang as it took to the air and continued down a path it clearly knew once she caught up with it. **(Safely is she… among the stars…)**

"I'm not a big translator for song talk." Applejack said as she caught up with Sparkler as they galloped after the toy. "But it sounds like your little sis is safe'n sound."

"I'll believe it when I see her!" Sparkler shouted as they turned a corner and saw the toy land on another tree, waiting for them to catch up.

**(Hush now dear Sparkler… It must be this way…) **It continued to sing as it took to the air again and flew on ahead, staying in visual sight but continuing to take the lead as it flew from branch to branch. **(Too fearful of harm… we must hide her… Rest now dear Sparkler… For soon you'll find her... Here in the calm of the night…)**

The toy continued to lead the way through the trees, pausing only to make sure that Sparkler could see it before continuing to fly to the next tree. Twilight and her friends kept on Sparkler's hooves as she chased the toy, desperate to find her sister. Finally after about ten minutes the toy stopped flying away and waited for them to gather under it, before it finished its song.

**(Come little Sparkler… I'll lead thee to her… into the safety… of our little place…) **It sang as it landed on the ground and walked toward a nearby group of trees. **(Come little Sparkler… the time's come to find… little Dinky in the shadow of night…) **The toy vanished as it passed through two of the trees, right in front of their eyes.

"What the…" Sparkler asked as she looked around for the toy.

"I saw this before." Rainbow Dash said as she stood next to Sparkler. "It's some kind of magic or whatever it is those toys that Dinky own can do. They can disguise and hide Dinky from sight so well that nopony can see them unless they knew she was already there. Just go and walk through Sparkler, I'm sure Dinky will be right there."

Sparkler nodded and took a deep breath before walking between the two trees. The second she did, Mr. TomTom and the other toy, Midnight Luna, materialized in front of her as Mr. TomTom took flight and flew up to a branch. Standing in front of her and watching her with its two eyes glowing was Dinky's Luna toy. Behind the toy, covered in leaves and branches to conceal her, shivering with fear and cold, was Dinky herself as she covered her eyes with her hooves as she tried to sleep.

"Dinky?" Sparkler asked.

Dinky's eyes opened up and she looked up at Sparkler, still shivering slightly. "Sister?" She asked nervously.

Sparkler scooped up Dinky from the ground and brushed all the leaves off her as she held her little sister closely. Her sister was cold, despite her toys' obvious best efforts to keep her warm at night, she was freezing. "It's okay Dinky, it's okay." Sparkler whispered soothingly into her little sister's frightened ears as she shivered in her hooves. "Don't worry little sister, big sisters right here. You're safe and sound now."

"Sparkler…" Dinky sobbed into her sister's shoulder. "I want mommy… I want daddy… I want to go home."

"Don't worry Dinky, I'll fix everything somehow." Sparkler whispered. "Somehow I'll get dad back and we can all go home little sister alright?"

"Sister Promise?" Dinky asked.

"Sister Promise." She said as Rainbow Dash walked through the field to join her.

"I swear even after all the strange things that have happen in the last two days; I am just amazed at what these little toys can do." She said as she looked around. "Creating such a disguise without magic, I never thought I'd see something give Twilight's magic a run."

"Yea and that reminds me, thank you Luna toy." Sparkler said to the toy as she did her best to keep Dinky warm. "I know you can't talk to me unless it's through Dinky, but thank you for keeping her safe."

The Luna toy looked up at her and nodded before its eyes stopped glowing and she fell onto its side. At the same time Twilight and the others materialized behind Rainbow Dash. "Whoa, nice disguise." Twilight said. "I doubt even Celestia herself could have done better, and all without magic."

Dinky however noticed that something was wrong because as soon as Sparkler put her down she ran to pick up her toy. "What's wrong, why did you fall down?" She asked the toy quickly.

Her toy seemed to be struggling just to move its head as it turned to look at her. **(My power cells… are at seven percent… I cannot maintain normal functions… much longer.)** It whispered. **(I expended sixty five percent… of my power to protect you with force fields earlier, and another twenty percent… was spent maintaining this holographic projection.)**

Mr. TomTom flew down and landed next to Dinky and chirped as he looked around for a moment before flying back into the air and landed on a branch. "Well how come Mr. TomTom is all fine and dandy while you're barely breathing?" Sparkler asked.

**(Mr. TomTom is equipped… with moonlight absorbing energy cells on his wings.) **The toy said after Dinky repeated Sparkler's question. **(His body is able to absorb and store… sunlight energy while his wings… can absorb moonlight energy… so no matter what time of day it is… he can operate at full power as long… as one of those two sources are available to him. My wings… were supposed to do the same for me… but they were not installed yet before today… without them I can only absorb sunlight and other bright sources of light… as a source of power.)**

"Wait you have an energy supply?" Twilight asked curiously. "So you actually run on something like magic?"

**(Negative… all of my maker's creations… run on a form of… energy absorbed by sunlight or moonlight energy.) **The toy said. **(Our power cells provide us with energy… to perform different functions… from mediocre tasks like moving our body parts… to performing actions like creating force fields… and setting up holographic projections… the more complex and demanding the task… the more energy required and is drained from our power cells... which is why we run on solar and lunar energy… in order to function each day… if we did not use those two sources… we would shut down after a few hours.)**

"Well sunrise aint for at least nine hours." Applejack said. "Can ya use something else to tide ya over till then?"

**(A bright source of light… would be sufficient.) **The toy said once Dinky understood what Applejack was asking. **(As long as my exoskeleton body… can absorb the light energy… I'll be able to transfer the energy… to my power cells and… restore function to my systems… but we must act fast… only four percent of my power remains…)**

"Okay let me see… need a spell to create a large enough light source to power a super advanced toy that can run on solar energy and possibly lunar energy... simple enough I think." Twilight whispered as her horn glowed as she cast her magic.

A second later a bright light source appeared above them all and showered them all in golden light. "Sorry for the brightness." Twilight said as they were all temporarily blinded for a second after being in the dark of night for so long. "I figured if I made it as close to the sun as possible it would work. Will this work for your toy Dinky?"

"Is the light good for you?" Dinky asked her toy.

**(This light source will suffice; I am already now operating at full efficiency.) **The toy said as it looked up at the light source and its eyes glowed faintly. **(I am now transferring the rest into my power cells and storing them, while creating a holographic projection to conceal ourselves and the light source. I will inform you of when I have stored sufficient energy to continue our search for the maker and princess.) **It took the Luna toy half an hour of waiting before it said that enough power was stored and that Twilight can stop the casting her spell for the light source.

"Okay now that the toy is good to go, now where do we go?" Applejack asked. "We're in the middle of the Everfree Forest with a psycho Time Lord on the loose."

"Luna toy, you said something about locating the source of whatever was blocking you earlier?" Twilight said.

**(Affirmative, once I left the Tardis I was able to locate the source of the jamming signal.) **It said after Dinky repeated the question. **(However, Dinky was able to locate it faster than I was able to. We are currently twenty yards from the source of the jamming signal, if you wish to continue onward I suggest we head due west from here.)**

"Alright then in that case, I say Twilight and the rest of you go with Mr. TomTom and go search for my father and Princess Celestia while I take Dinky back to the Tardis with her Luna toy." Sparkler suggested.

**(Negative, I would strongly advise us remaining as one group.) **Dinky's Luna toy interrupted. **(If we separate Mr. TomTom will follow Dinky despite her wishes or yours. Also since I must maintain a five foot distance with Dinky, I will not be able to scan for dangers or use my filly protection tools to aid any of you in your search. Therefore I suggest we remain as a group and continue west toward the source of the jamming signal.)**

"No way is that going to happen!" Sparkler said. "I almost lost Dinky today; I am not going to risk losing her a second time!"

"Yea what Sparkler said, I think Dinky should be kept out of harm's way as much as possible." Twilight agreed. "Besides what about all that duty as her toy, you know with your job being to keep her safe at any cost? Why would you want us to risk bringing Dinky into the dragon's den?"

**(My filly protection protocols dictate the majority of my actions that is true.) **The toy stated as it stared at her. **(However if we separate the group you are put in greater risk then if we stay together. I have calculated the odds of ensuring your safety are greater if we are all together and heading toward the source of the jamming signal then if we split up. Furthermore the Tardis is two miles east from our current location, whereas the trail leading to your father is merely twenty yards from here and in the other direction.)**

"That sounds like a better plan now that I think about it." Pinkie Pie said.

"It does make some sense." Fluttershy said.

"Well Twilight, what's the call dear?" Rarity asked.

Twilight thought for a moment before turning to Sparkler. "It's your father's creation Sparkler; you know this better than me." She said. "Do we follow the toy's plan or what?"

Sparkler looked between the Toy and Twilight and looked at her little sister. "Well Dinky, what do you think?"

"I say we go!" Dinky said confidently. "We need to find Daddy before it's too late!"

"Well, that settles it." Applejack called out. "Saddle up mares; we got some walkin to do!"

They all started walking in the direction the toy said, with Dinky and her Luna toy in the lead while Mr. TomTom flew in the trees looking this way and that. Twilight and Sparkler followed behind them with the rest of the group behind them. After a good ten minutes of walking and trudging through the forest, Mr. TomTom flew down and chirped warningly to the Luna toy. **(Everyone stay quiet.) **It called out as it turned to face them. **(One of the rogue toys is approaching, do not move and do not speak until I say so.)**

They all stood still as they heard the sound of chirping and fluttering of wings and leaves getting closer. Ten seconds later one of the black Flyby Bird toys that Sparkler had watched fly away landed in the tree above her and looked down at them, its eyes glowing blue as it seemed to look at them all before turning its head away from them. After it turned away it stared around for a few more moments before taking off and flying away from them.

"Why didn't it see us?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It was right on top of Sparkler and stared right at her."

**(My holographic projector was extended to create a false image around the toy's visual receptors.) **The toy said quietly. **(I created an image of local vegetation around us to disguise our presence. Also the Flyby Bird models are equipped with eyes that are seventy percent less effective at night then they are in the day. Mr. TomTom however is equipped with much stronger night vision and sharper hearing receptors then I am, therefore he can see and hear the rogue toys before any of us can.)**

"Fancy toys ya got Dinky." Applejack commented.

"Thank you." Dinky smiled as they continued following her Luna toy.

**(According to my scans the remaining three toys that have been reprogrammed are operating under patrol orders.) **The toy said to Dinky as Mr. TomTom flew back into the air. **(If any of them detect us before we reach our destination they will raise the alarm, and we will have little chance of succeeding. Therefore I will have to destroy all three of them at the same time before we reach our destination.)**

"Why do we need to destroy them?" Sparkler asked her sister.

"Why do we need to destroy daddy's toys?" Dinky asked sadly.

**(These toys are no longer operating under their normal parameters.) **It said sadly, and for a moment Sparkler wondered if the Luna toy was really feeling sad or just acting that way to Dinky. **(They are not operating using their filly protection protocols, they will attempt to alert our attacker and thus they risk bringing harm to Dinky and the rest of you. As such the only way to avert that is to destroy them. It may be painful for you Dinky, to see your father's work destroyed, but rest assured that if they still operated using their normal programing, that is the fate they would want over what they are being forced to do.)**

It turned to look at Sparkler with one eye and for a moment, Sparkler felt like she could really understand the toy. **(We toys are designed to amuse and bring joy to our owners.) **It said slowly. **(We are not to bring harm, whether direct or indirect, upon those who play with us. We would rather be destroyed, and we will destroy ourselves if that is the price to keep our owners and other ponies safe. That is what all of the other Flyby Bird toys did earlier, as long as you were not harmed, we would happily sacrifice ourselves a thousand times over.)**

They came to the edge of a clearing after another ten minutes of walking quietly before the Luna toy stopped walking. **(We have arrived; the source of the jamming signal is directly in front of us.) **It whispered.

Sparkler looked around the clearing from behind a bush but couldn't see anything even remotely alien. All she could see was a clearing full of grass, a couple of bushes and a group of fairly large rocks. "Are you sure, there's nothing out there."

**(Before we approach I must take care of the three rogue toys.) **The toy said while looking around into the sky. **(I will send out a signal to attract the remaining toys to this location, remain in cover until I finish.)**

The back of the Luna toy opened up and a metal antenna extended, minutes later the antenna retracted and the sound of chirping could be heard as three pitch black toy birds flew into the clearing and landed in front of the pile of rocks. The Luna toy walked out from the bush and approached the three birds, its sides opened up to reveal the metal rods it used to protect Dinky from the carving tool.

As one the three toy birds turned and faced the Luna toy as it approached them. The lead toy opened its beak and declared in a mechanical imitation of the mare's voice, **(This unit's designation is three of six, Identify yourself unknown toy!)**

**(My designation is Midnight Luna.) **It said. **(As of this moment, you three are in violation of your primary function as toys. Forgive me but you must be terminated, before you can bring any more harm to anypony.)**

Instantly three green nets of light surrounded the toy birds and all three of them including the Luna toy vanished from sight for a moment. However they could hear the sound of breaking wood and splitting wires as whatever was happening was being concealed from view. After a few more seconds, the Luna toy reappeared and the remains of three destroyed toy birds could be seen in front of it.

Sparkler came out of hiding and walked with the others as Mr. TomTom flew from the trees to hover over Dinky's head. They walked over to the toy as it stared down at the remains of the toys, and Sparkler could swear that the toy was almost lamenting or at least sorry for having to destroy the three Flyby Bird toys.

"Are you alright?" Dinky asked her toy as she picked it up.

**(I am operating with forty seven percent of my remaining power supply, I am alright.) **It said.

"I don't think Dinky was talking about you being able to run. I think she was talking about if you are alright." Sparkler said.

**(I do not feel sorry for the loss of these toys.) **It said to Dinky as it turned to stare at the remains. **(I feel sorry that the owners of those toys and the other toys our attacker captured will never see them again. The fact that these toys were torn from their owners makes me mourn more than anything. In any case it is safe now; we can proceed in safety now.)**

"Well where do we go now, you said the source of the jamming thing was here." Twilight said as she looked around. "So where is it?"

The toy pointed at the rocks and said that the source of the signal was right there. "You telling us that rocks are keeping you from finding the doc an the princess?" Applejack asked skeptically.

"Unless I'm mistaken wasn't The Doctor's Tardis disguised as a blue box while also being disguised as a tree behind Ditzy's house?" Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Well if The Professor's Tardis is also disguised, how do we get it to reveal itself?"

**(Leave that to me, it will take me several moments to fin the exact frequency to dissipate the hologram and reveal the true disguise.) **It said.

Ten minutes of waiting and finally the Luna toy opened its mouth and created a strange shrieking noise that Sparkler could barely hear. However it clearly had an impact because the rocks started vibrating and shifting the same way her father's Tardis did when it changed from a blue box to a tree. After a few moments the rocks vanished, replaced by a giant yellow box on its side with the words 'Public School Bus Transport' adorning the side.

"Now that's one big box." Rainbow Dash said.

"It has wheels, are you sure it's just a box?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm guessing this thing is some kind of cart with the wheels and all." Twilight said as she walked to the front where there was some kind of door. "If Princess Celestia and The Doctor are inside this thing, then how do we get in there?"

Sparkler walked over to the door as well and noticed that it was slightly ajar; meaning that whoever opened it forgot to close the door properly. "It looks like we can just walk right in." Sparkler said. "So who goes in and who stays out here. As much as I want to find dad, I think its best I only two or three of us go inside while the rest stay out here and keep Dinky safe."

"Alright then you, RD and Twi go in while the rest of us wait out here and keep watch with Dinky." Applejack said.

"Alright, but you keep an eye on Dinky!" Sparkler said as Applejack picked up Dinky and her Luna toy.

"Like she was my own little sister Spark." She said.

"Big sister, you promise you'll bring daddy back right?" Dinky asked quickly before she was led away from the yellow bus.

"Big sister promise." Sparkler said.

"You be careful now you two." Rarity said to Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"Don't worry about us." Twilight said.

"Be back in a bit." Rainbow Dash said.

Sparkler watched as Dinky was led away by Applejack along with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity into the safety of the woods, while she turned back to the strange and very alien yellow box. She could feel something emanating from the open door, and she could tell that it felt very unlike her father's Tardis. Her father's Tardis was welcoming and radiated with peace, but she could feel a molevolant presence coming from just the crack. It was very sinister, and it clearly did not want her or any of them to enter inside. Still she took one hoof and pushed the door open, and walked bravely inside the yellow box, so she could keep her sister promise to Dinky and bring her parents back.


	9. Chapter 8 - Luna's Duties

Chapter 8 – Luna's Duties

=Luna's PoV=

"We will be back momentarily; we just have to deal with certain issues." Luna said to the group before she left The Doctor's Tardis and started to talk to herself. "How our sister has done this for over a thousand years we do not know, every five minutes somepony or something calls for our attention."

The moment she exited the Tardis the door suddenly slammed behind her and the typical Vwroop, sound could be heard around the throne room as it suddenly began to vanish. "Your majesty!" Some of the guards surrounding her called out as she jumped back I surprise as the Tardis vanished from the throne room.

"It's alright guard that is how the Tardis travels." Luna said as she looked at the spot where the Tardis had vanished. "It looks like we will not be joining them in the search for our sister. If there is one thing we have ever learned about The Doctor's Tardis, it always takes those who are needed. We guess we are not needed to rescue our sister or The Doctor."

Luna was slightly unhappy at being left behind while the element bearers, Sparkler and Dinky were all hopefully heading to the Everfree Forest to search for her sister. However she knew that as Co Ruler of Equestria, she had her duties to perform. One of those was raising the moon and lowering the sun in just two hours. That was also not the only duty she had to perform, she still had to deal with the issues that her guards and other officials were bringing her.

One of her sister's guards handed her a report from one of her own guards, Hawk, and what he had come back with after leaving with her sister's two toys earlier. According to the report, the two toys had led him to discover sixteen spherical objects circling the entire outskirts of Canterlot. These objects were each creating some kind of sound which apparently could only be heard by Pegasus ponies, which he discovered only after having gathered them all together on the outskirts of the city. He also had to bring them one at a time because the noise they were making became unbearable in groups of two or more. Eventually he had to arrange for earth and unicorn ponies to carry the objects because he couldn't take the noise anymore once he found the fourth one.

All the time he was searching for them, the two toys performed their duties and both led him to the objects, and protected his wings from being impaired by them. However they couldn't protect him from the noise according to the report. It took him roughly five hours to locate each one and arrange for another pony to collect and transport them to a sight that was safely away from the city range so that Pegasus ponies would not be affected. The report also said that the toy that was protecting him from each told him that the objects only affected the entire city because a majority of them were receivers as well as enhancers for the signal which blocked Pegasus from using their wings, only a select few of the objects were acting broadcasting the signal. All of this was said through the toy in The Doctors voice.

The report also said that since the objects were removed, the Pegasus in the city could use their wings again. Hawk also advised her that since the objects were in a secluded area north of the city, all Pegasus ponies should avoid the northern area outside of the city.

"We are going to inspect the metallic objects that my guard has found and removed." Luna declared as she flexed her wings to make sure they worked. "Inform all Pegasi in the city to avoid the northern area of the city until further notice. We shall return in under an hour, after we have paid a visit to the hospital to check on the situation there."

"Yes your majesty." One guard said as she left the room and walked out onto a balcony and took to the air, at the same time several Pegasus guards followed her as she flew into the skies. She looked around the city of Canterlot as she turned north and saw the extent of the physical scars that the city and all the ponies that called the sky their friend had suffered. There were broken pieces of roof and dents on many of the houses, several tree's had been damaged when ponies had fallen into their limbs, and there were many feathers littering the streets and roofs from those Pegasi whose wings were injured in the moments following The Doctor's capture.

"All this… for one stallion." She whispered as she left the city behind, flanked by several guards who were watching for any danger to her.

She and her sister deeply respected The Doctor, both for the power he wielded and the help he has provided for them over the years. While she was prepared to fight to the bitter end to protect and help him however she could, she wondered just how much pain the innocent of hers and her sister's kingdom must endure for The Doctor. Could she and her sister continue to put their subjects through this kind of suffering? What if the element bearers and his children succeeded in rescuing him and her sister, would The Professor come after them, would she inflict further pain on their subjects just to get at him?

"What would have happened, had we asked The Doctor to surrender himself instead of trying to fight her?" She asked herself finally, wondering if the mare would have followed through with her promise to return her sister in exchange for The Doctor. "It will do us no good to ponder on that which we cannot change. All we can do now is figure out what to do with these objects and ensure that all Pegasus in Canterlot are taken care of. Besides our sister would never forgive us if we had simply handed over The Doctor, merely to try and return her back to her subjects."

She continued flying north until she saw a ring of guards which marked the border of where Pegasi could safely fly before they entered the area affected by the strange objects. She landed and was greeted by three of her sister's Earth guards and one Unicorn guard, as well as her second guard Owl. They all bowed respectfully to her and Owl led the way, already knowing her intentions for being there.

_**-Just so you know my lady, I cannot hear anything you or anypony says verbally.-**_He said in her mind as they walked. _**–Hawk and I have both plugged our ears with cotton so that we can be near this area, once you get closer the noise becomes increasingly louder, if you attempt to go nearer and your ears are unprotected, you risk going deaf or having your ear ringing for the rest of your life.-**_

_**-Very well, we shall blot our own ears as well.-**_Luna said as she took the cotton from him and started to plug her own ears as well, already hearing a faint but very annoying ringing in the distance._**–Hast thou informed the guards as to why we are plugging our ears?-**_

_**-Yes my lady, they know that the only way we can approach safely is if we have our ears covered and blocked out.- **_He said to her as they continued walking. _**–These metallic objects, for they are made of metal my lady, are extremely durable and completely immune to magic. The unicorns who have attempted to dismantle them have been unable to even levitate them off the ground, let alone destroy them. They are also impervious to our attempts to destroy them with anything physical, because Hawk dropped one accidentally as he was transporting it, and from a great height. There wasn't even a slight scratch on it, and he dropped it on several rocks my lady.-**_

_**-Everything this Time Lord seems to make seem to be immune to magic.- **_Luna commented as they walked through a strand of bushes and she spotted Hawk, accompanied by several Unicorn ponies and Earth ponies, all of whom were surrounding and examining the metallic objects that Hawk had collected from the outskirts of the city. _**–Hello Hawk, what news do you have after examining these strange objects.-**_

_**-Other than these things being immune to heavy objects dropped on them, nothing new my lady.- **_He said in her mind, not looking up as he took one of the objects and threw it into a group of similar objects. _**–We have at least determined the ones that are responsible for broadcasting the signal which inhibits a Pegasus's ability to fly. Only four of the sixteen are broadcasting the signal, we assume that they each are transmitting the signal to three receivers. If that's the case then each of the four metal spheres send the signal to three receivers, and those three receivers resend and enhance the signal so that it reaches and extends across the entire city.-**_

Luna walked over to the four metallic objects that were the source of the harmful signal and examined them herself. Each of the round objects were smooth and glinted in the sunlight, with very tiny and very thin antenna extending from the balls. They were constantly vibrating, and unless she focused on them, she would not have known they were moving. Even though her ears were blocked by the cotton, she could still hear a very faint ringing coming through the cotton. That ringing was not harmful, and though she was slightly curious as to what the noise sounded like, she restrained herself from pulling the cotton out, heeding the words of her guard when he told her that the noise would deafen her or would make her hear a constant ringing for the rest of her life.

The metal ball, for that was what it indeed was if she didn't know what its true purpose was, looked almost harmless to her. She walked over to the other group of metal objects, the ones that her guard had described as receivers for the signal and examined them. They were of the same build and size of the broadcasters, but instead of small antenna sticking out of them, they had several disks projected outward from the center of the ball. Luna noticed that half of the dishes were aimed at the four broadcasting spheres, while the other half were pointed outward in different directions.

_**-They appear almost harmless… it's incredible that such tiny things could do so much harm.- **_Luna commented as she looked at the strange objects. _**–How can such little things do so much harm to us?-**_

While she couldn't believe that these tiny spheres were the cause of so much trouble, she also found herself thoroughly impressed at how much technology was in front of her. While other ponies would have believed it to be magic, she understood that it was technology, and it was a technology aimed and directed at restricting and preventing the movements of an entire group of ponies. She marveled that their enemy had been able to affect such a vast area, with only sixteen small spherical objects that were each no bigger than an apple ringing the outskirts of their city, and all with pure sound.

_**-This is a technology we do not understand, and it is something we ponies clearly will never until we achieve the level that these Time lords are at. -**_ Luna said to Hawk and Owl._** –Two Time Lords are in our kingdom, and both of them use advanced technology that we cannot hope to understand or replicate ourselves. How they both use this technology astounds me… and will never cease astounding me you two.-**_

_**-Indeed my lady, but if we can understand what it does, then can we still prevent it from operating right?- **_Hawk asked as he read a report from one of the Unicorn scientists that had been trying to examine the objects.

_**-Just because we understand what something does, doesn't mean we can predict that it will always do that.- **_Owl said as he looked at the object Luna was holding now. _**–Just because these objects only prevent us from flying, doesn't mean they don't do anything else. For all we know they could be explosives, waiting for the right moment or a specific signal before going off.-**_

_**-The only pony who could truly understand these things is The Doctor.- **_Luna said as she put the object down and took the report Hawk was reading so she could read it herself. _**–However without him the only thing we can do is examine each object one at a time, and try to crack them open to see what's inside.-**_

She was confident that, had The Doctor examined these spheres he would have been able to deduce their purpose and workings. However she didn't have that luxury at the moment, all she and anypony could do right now was just examine the outsides and just take their best guess.

_**-Technology is so fascinating…- **_Luna commented as she read the report, telling her how the Unicorn scientist discovered that when the spheres with dishes were moved, the dishes were constantly trying to aim themselves at the spheres with antennae. _**–It can do things that even defy magic's limits… and without the aid of magic to begin with.-**_

She herself had seen the wonders that The Doctor created with technology in the form of his toys. Each of his toys moved and acted on their own, seemingly able to operate and function without any form of magic to make them move. They sang songs, lullabies, and even played games with their owners, no matter what age they were. She herself had watched several toy birds flying around in the garden to pick flowers for their owner's parents on Mare's and Stallion's day. The majority of their owners were fillies and foals, and the toys were all trying to make their owners happy however they could. They did everything they can to make them smile each day, even if that meant breaking into the castle gardens to steal flowers. The grounds keeper often complained about the toy birds flying in and ruining the trees and flower bushels that he worked so hard to maintain.

She had often wondered what else technology could be capable of, and now that she had seen what The Professor could do with it, she didn't think that it was so wonderful anymore. Technology in the hooves of that mare had nearly killed and severely wounded the majority of every Pegasus in the city, not to mention it permitted her a chance to capture and escape with The Doctor. The technology she used has so far been nothing but harmful to ponies.

Luna finished reading the report and told the ponies there to continue trying to examine the objects until it became clear that they could learn nothing new. She also instructed them to continue diverting any Pegasus Ponies that entered the area to avoid this area of the city until further notice. They nodded and told her they would, even though she couldn't hear a word they were saying. She and her two guards Hawk and Owl left the technological spheres behind and walked back toward Canterlot. It took them about ten minutes before they could again take to the sky.

_**-Now that we have examined those strange objects we can go to the hospital to check up on the situation there.- **_Luna said as they entered Canterlot and veered toward the hospital she had visited earlier. They landed and Luna entered to see that the situation had improved since earlier that day, but it was still bad any standard.

The ponies that were in the waiting room all bowed the instant they saw her. "Thank you, but please pay us no mind." Luna declared gently, seeing the worry and pain in all of her subject's eyes. "Rest easy and worry not, you will all be admitted soon. We are here to check on the situation of all our subjects. Tell us; has anypony been able to fly since this morning again?"

Many of the ponies in the waiting area were waiting to visit ponies who had been admitted earlier that day for wing injuries or wing complaints. However there were a few Pegasus ponies in the waiting area as well. One of them, a small foal, stepped forward and spoke up.

"I was able to fly an hour ago." He said.

Luna smiled gently at him and he returned the smile as well. "That is good; many ponies have not been able to fly through the skies, ourself included, since early this morn." Luna said. "However we discovered the cause of the problem, and now the skies are open once more. However we urge you all to avoid the northern section outside of Canterlot until we can ensure that the cause will not threaten Pegasi again."

After she listened to her subject's gratitude Luna walked up to the counter and spoke her intentions to the nurse that managed the front desk. She and her guards were then led back to the RER, or the Royal Emergency Room, which was only used and always reserved for the royal sisters who ruled Equestria. The room was always prepared to receive, treat and care for Luna or her sister Celestia, no matter what the problem maybe.

"Tell us healer, what is her condition?" Luna asked as she approached the room, her guards waiting at a distance because only she and her sister as well as the head healer and nurses were permitted beyond that point.

"She's in much better condition than earlier." The healer said as he led the way to the RER. "Her wings were in such a state that it took all our magic to repair the damage. While we were able to repair the damage and restore her wings, the wounds were so deep and so damaging that not only is her physical body in pain, her emotional scars are affecting her."

"Her emotional scars?" Luna asked, already guessing as to the cause of these emotional scars.

"Yes your majesty, the emotional trauma she suffered was to such an extent that she refused to gain consciousness for at least seven hours." He said. "We were able to heal her wings and repair the damage, but even then nothing we did could wake her up. She only woke up about half an hour ago. She's in a terrible state at the moment, barely breathing and won't talk to us. She keeps asking for somepony, but I've never heard of this stallion she keeps asking for."

"Who is she asking for?"

"She keeps asking for a Doctor, but she won't tell us his name." He said as he looked at her. "She keeps saying, 'The Doctor, I want The Doctor'. I don't know who this doctor is but at this point this Doctor fellow is the only pony who can heal her wounds. We've done all we can for her physical wounds, the only one who can help her repair her emotional wounds at this point is this Doctor."

Luna nodded and asked the healer to wait outside while she went in alone. Luna walked inside the room and saw the patient she had wanted to visit all day, Ditzy Hooves, mother to Sparkler and Dinky Hooves and wife to Doctor Hooves. She was lying sideways on a bed, her wings in casts and held up gently by belts to keep them stiff. She had a breather around her mouth to help her with breathing and there were several tubes sticking out of her wings and wing joints, with blood being pumped into and out of her wings. She was breathing very slowly, and her eyelids looked very heavy.

Luna looked around before walking over to Ditzy's field of vision. Her eyes were bloodshot and barely open but still, Ditzy's eyes followed Luna as they approached her. She tried to smile at Luna but all she could manage was a short grin. "Prin…cess?" She whispered faintly when Luna was in earshot.

"Relax Ditzy, take it easy." She said as she closed her mind off to Hawk and Owl, wanting this conversation to be as private as possible. "You've had quite a day let me tell you, taking on The Professor is not something you walk away from without a scratch."

"My… hus…band?" Ditzy gasped faintly, her eyes glinting with probably the last shred of hope she had left in them. "Di…d… he… ma… ke it?"

Luna wanted to lie to Ditzy right then, never before had she ever felt such a strong urge to tell a false truth to anypony before. She wished she could have told Ditzy that her husband was victorious, that he had treated her wounds after recovering himself, and was even now waiting or the okay that he and his family could visit her. She knew that Ditzy had held onto one last shred of hope, and if she lost that final shred… Luna didn't know what would happen to the grey Pegasus.

However Luna wasn't a lying type, she couldn't lie to anypony about something so important, not even to Ditzy. She wished she were Nightmare Moon for just this moment, at least then she could have had an excuse to lie to Ditzy. "We are sorry Ditzy, but your husband was captured moments after you were defeated." Luna said sadly, knowing that she was already in a fragile state as it is. "We tried our best, believe us Ditzy Hooves we did everything possible to stop that mare, but she prevented our wings from taking flight, and our magic became useless the moment she sped away with him."

Ditzy's eyes started tearing as she used what strength she had left to sob on the bed. "He's… dead… isn't he…?" She whispered silently through her tears.

"No he's not dead Ditzy, not yet anyway!" Luna declared, wanting to give her some hope, no matter how small or fragile it was. "The Doctor was captured by that mare; she didn't finish him off when she clearly could have. No he is still alive of this we are sure, because she still has yet to return our sister Celestia. As long as Celestia remains her hostage then The Doctor still lives."

Ditzy was neither comforted nor her hope restored it seemed, because she was still crying with what little strength she had mustered. "Why… did… this… have to… happen…" She asked sadly, her voice finally steadying after a few deep breaths. "This… was our… anniversary week… when… we first met… and now… I may… lose him."

"Don't worry Ditzy; we'll save your husband." Luna said gently. "Even as we speak, the element keepers are searching the Everfree Forest for your husband. We learned of his location just over an hour ago and they sped toward the forest with all speed."

Ditzy managed a small, if very brief, smile at these words. "Sparkler… and Dinky… found… the Tardis… didn't they?" She coughed.

"Yes, how did you figure it out?" Luna asked.

"My… husband… programmed it… to take Dinky… and Sparkler… and hide them… until danger… passed." She said softly, starting to close her eyes. "Only way… could have… found him so… fast… was with the… help of his… Tardis… Are my… children safe?"

"Yes, even now they are looking for their father with the others." Luna said.

Ditzy closed her eyes and her voice started to grow fainter with each word. "Typical… just like… their father… and mother…" She whispered before her breathing slowed down and she fell asleep.

Luna let her fall asleep, knowing that she needed it more than anypony, and left the RER to return to the palace. _**–It never ceases to astound us, how a mare like her, could ever capture the eyes and heart of a being like The Doctor.- **_She commented to herself as she reopened her mind to her guards.

They left the hospital and returned to the castle so that Luna could resume her duties before it was time for her to raise the moon and lower the sun. They reached the palace and the moment she entered the throne room she was instantly swamped with more reports and notices from the different hospitals and queries about the sudden disappearance of Princess Celestia, with several important political ponies asking what happened to her and demanding Luna explain the situation to the public.

It took her over an hour but finally she took care of everything. After she dealt with the questions, wrote some respectful replies, and otherwise handled all of the reports all screaming for her to explain everything to her subjects and explain what happened earlier that day concerning the sudden loss of flight for all Pegasi in Canterlot, she managed to get some time to herself to reflect on everything before she began her final duty for the day.

_**-Tell us you two; dost thou think we can handle this much longer? - **_She asked her two guards as she prepared her magic to raise the moon and lower the sun for the third time since her sister's abduction.

_**-I don't know my lady.- **_Hawk whispered in her mind. _**–Nevertheless until your sister is returned, you must find a way to continue to rule alone on the throne. Of that I am sure.-**_

_**-Same thing my lady, but you must admit that you have finally gotten over your fear of ruling the kingdom without your sister.- **_Owl said to her, though in a more joking matter. _**–Wasn't it two days ago you found yourself complaining that you were having such difficulty dealing with the pressure of picking young ponies to be admitted into the schools here in Canterlot?-**_

She nodded at their responses and felt calm once more flowing into her mind since her sister's fillynapping. Her two guards have always shared some space in her mind as well as her heart, and ever since the day they entered her service they have always been two pieces of her soul that she couldn't go a day without. Hawk, her daytime guardian and watcher was always the more confident and wiser of the two, always stating nothing but the facts and only concerning her or commenting on that which she would deem important. Owl was her nighttime guard, and her informant of the dealings and everyday concerns of her subjects that Hawk rarely bothered with. While he wasn't as wise as Hawk he was even cleverer than him because of the way he used his commoner's point of view to state the truth and lighten the situation, despite how bleak it may look.

How could she go one day without her two guards to not only watch over and advise her, but also give her the confidence that not even her sister could give her?

_**-Please hurry element bearers.- **_Luna whispered to herself as she cast her magic and concentrated on lowering the sun, while at the same time raising the moon. _**–I do not know how much longer I can maintain the situation without my sister.-**_


	10. Chapter 9 - The Professor's Journal

Chapter 9 – The Professor's Journal

=Sparkler's PoV=

"Whoa, and here I thought your dad had a nice setup." Rainbow Dash commented as she entered after Twilight and Sparkler.

Sparkler looked around the inside of the yellow box and felt herself shivering, not with cold but with fear as she looked around the obvious control room to this Tardis. It slightly resembled her father's Tardis control room, but everything was very different when she compared the two. Her father's control room had most of the controls, buttons and levers as well as screens located on a central pillar inside the room, with only one hallway leaving the control room being the only other means out. That hallway had then led toward the separate sections of the Tardis, and all the time she and the others had walked around the inside of the strange alien ship, she always felt a strange sense of being safe and secure.

This Tardis however felt completely different and even more alien then her father's had felt as she looked around with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. This Tardis' control room was fairly larger than her father's and was designed so that different consoles and screens were on one of two levels. The level they were on was the lower of the two, with the upper level a few feet higher and could be reached with several small staircases. The room was also much more poorly lit then the other Tardis' rooms ever were. She could only tell how big the room was because all of the strange consoles were providing enough light.

She also felt a constant presence weighing down on her as she stepped further into the control room, and it felt dark and malevolent. The presence she had felt in her father's Tardis had done everything it could to make her feel welcomed and safe. This presence was nothing like the other one, its intentions were purely harmful, and the only thing she felt inside this Tardis was her own fear and another pony's anger. That anger told her just one thing, she was not welcomed and she had better get out soon.

"I guess you feel it too Sparkler?" Twilight asked nervously as she looked around.

"Yea, we better hurry and find my dad and the princess before it's too late." Sparkler whispered as she looked around at the different hallways leading out of the control room. "Now I'm wishing I had brought Dinky in here, I have absolutely no idea where to go."

"Why would you want to bring your little sister in here of all places?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"She has a sort of… connection to our mom and dad." Sparkler said as she walked over to a hallway and looked down it to see an almost endless series of doors lining the walls. "Ever since she was born she seemed to always know when mom or dad were in pain or feeling sad or so. She also seems to have a knack for finding either of them. It's just some kind of magical bond she has with them that I seem to lack because… well you know… I was adopted whereas she was born to them."

"Well let's first try and find Princess Celestia, I know a few spells that might help us locate her." Twilight said as her horn glowed. "This should take a few moments, once we find her she can probably lead us to your father, and who knows maybe we'll find them both at the same time."

After a few minutes Twilight became discouraged as she tried a different spell, and then tried another one, and after that she tried a third spell. "What is going on here?" Twilight whispered angrily as she tried a fourth spell. "None of my spells are working, it's like every time I try one of my location spells they get reflected or suppressed before they have a chance to work. Whatever this Time Lord Mare has that can suppress magic is really thorough. Absolutely nothing I'm doing is getting through."

"You know I think that's a reoccurring theme that's been happening today." Rainbow Dash said as she looked down another hallway. "Every time you or another pony tries using magic against them it fails. If magic won't work then our only choice is to pick a hallway and look around in each door to find Princess Celestia and The Doctor."

Sparkler nodded in agreement, she wasn't the best at magic either so a location spell was well out of her area of magical expertise. The best option they had was to simply look inside each room and see if they could locate her father and the princess. The only problem she had with that plan however, was simply keeping track of where they were going. Unlike her father's Tardis, there wasn't a helpful mare or friendly toys to lead the way, not to mention that she felt that the longer they stayed the more she felt like something was going to kill them.

"Let's see, four hallways we can take from what I can see." Sparkler said as she looked at the two hallways on her level. "Only three of us, splitting up sounds like a good idea but I don't know where anything is. I think we should stick together here."

"So which way do we try first?" Rainbow Dash asked from the second level.

"That's simple." Twilight said as she joined her. "We go down the hallway that feels the most unwelcoming."

"Why's that?"

"Because whatever it is that's down here doesn't want us to find Princess Celestia or my father." Sparkler said as she understood what Twilight was thinking as she joined her on the second level. "These two hallways down here feel the same to me, as does this third hallway."

She walked over to the fourth hallway and instantly felt a massive shiver course through her body, as though she had just walked into an open fridge. Whatever the presence in this Tardis was, clearly did not want them to go down that hallway. "This way, it feels the most malevolent and somepony really doesn't want us to go down this way."

"Yea, I was thinking the same thing Sparkler." Twilight whispered fearfully. "Why does the poorly lit hallway have to be the one we need to go down?"

Sparkler nodded in agreement as she led the way down the hallway and looked at each doorway they passed. Without exception each door they looked at had a window of some kind to look through, but the majority of the rooms were dark and empty. She also noticed that each room seemed to be locked, and there were mechanisms on the doors designed to unlock or lock the doors, but their design clearly indicated that they weren't built with hooves in mind. There wasn't any sign of a prison or indication about what these rooms were supposed to be for, however on the other hand there was no sign of their attacker either.

"Any luck you two?" Sparkler whispered as she looked in the fifth room they came across, and found it empty and dark just like the other rooms.

"I found something here." Rainbow Dash said as she directed them over to a door that was ajar.

They walked over and Twilight led the way as she opened the door and walked inside. Sparkler looked inside the room and saw it was a fairly large library, not as big as the one aboard her father's, but still fairly recognizable and respectable. The library was fairly well lit, but unlike her father's library the shelves in this one were barely covered or held any books. At most there were seven or eight books on average for each shelf, and most of the books were dusted and in poor condition. Only a single table and large comfortable but patched and dusted chair were the only pieces of furniture besides the battered and dusted shelves.

"This is a library?" Twilight asked in amazement as she picked up one of the books and watched as pages just flew out of it as she opened it. "It looks like nopony has ever even been in here for centuries. These poor books…"

"Hey I found a journal over here." Rainbow Dash said as she picked up a book that wasn't as dusty as the others in the library. "Looks like The Professor kept a journal while she was here."

Twilight took the book over to the table and opened it up to see very fancy golden handwriting adorning each page. "It's definitely a journal, according to this the earliest page was written in the year… it doesn't say, but it says on the day following the fall of Gallifrey…"

"Galifrey, why does that name sound familiar Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's the home of the Time Lords, Ditzy told us." Twilight said as she started reading the pages. "Maybe we can learn a bit about this mare while we have a chance."

"Well hurry and read fast, I don't want to stay here any longer then I need to." Sparkler whispered as she looked at the door, expecting their attacker to walk through any moment.

"**This Journal begins the stored memoirs of all my future memories, past and present while speaking in the past."** Twilight said as she started reading. **"It has only been a few hours after the fall of Galifrey at the end of The Last Great Time War. I look down at my planet even as I flee in this old model Tardis and see the horrors that the war has caused. Our once great civilization has been reduced to nothing but a ghost city, with our silver spires and crowning scientific achievements left for the sands of time to wipe away all evidence of ever existing in the first place. The Dalek armada litters and surrounds the city, devoid of life as their owners and operators were devoid of mercy and pity. In just a matter of moments, an entire species went from being one of the most developed both technologically and morally, to being wiped from existence from the galactic plains, and only being a few pages in the history books of those who knew of us and will try to remember us." **

"**Perhaps in the millennia to come some archeologist from a distant planet will discover our remains and put the remains of my people's bones if they were lucky enough to survive or the dusted and rusted remains of our ships in some museum for all to see. Maybe then some youth will write a paper on us, and perhaps in those shreds of paper and words we will somehow, in the shred of those moments in that youth's imagination, be brought back into life, even for a brief moment. Perhaps a movie director or entertainment group will create a visual story or write some books about us, so that others will read about who we once were and will lament that we will never be again. I do not know what will happen to the remains of my people, or what we will leave behind or what will be left after the sands of time have claimed our secrets and hidden them beneath its surface. All I know is that I am alone, and that is the truth of the universe."**

"**My Tardis, though old and outdated by Time Lord Standards, is reliable and secure, capable of interstellar space travel and equipped with one of the most advanced Chameleon Camouflage of its day. While it cannot travel through time as the more modern models and more customized models can perform, it does serve its purposes as a traveling ship with all the needs one could want for space travel. It contains enough food and clean drinking water to supply and nurture me for years to come, and the lowest level has already been converted into a working cultivation facility, designed to grow, harvest and prepare food for me. Though I will survive the future years to come, I fear for my people's legacy and my species survivability. I weep even as I look toward the stars and the unending expanse of space, trying to contemplate being the last of the Time Lords. I refuse to admit defeat to death, and I will not allow death to claim my existence so easily. If the great reaper wishes to place the blade of his scythe to my neck, he will have to search the entire galaxy for me. I will persevere and continue to search for a solution to the conundrum I have put to myself."**

"**It will be a great challenge, probably the greatest challenge of any being in the universe. Because until now, no being has ever conquered or outsmarted this foe, yet I must in order to ensure the continuation of my species, even if I am alone in the universe. I will find a way, this is going to be my legacy, the greatest legacy of any being and indeed any Time Lord, and I will be the one to stop death from claiming me!"**

Twilight turned the page opened eyed as she looked up at them. "She tried to stop death?" She asked. "How can somepony stop death?"

"She really set herself a high bar." Rainbow Dash whispered as she watched Twilight turn the pages.

"What else does it say about her, anything about my dad or the princess?" Sparkler asked.

"Nothing from what I've been able to skim through." Twilight said as she read bits and pieces of the journal. "Hold on here's something. **Year five hundred and ninety seven, seventh regeneration after the fall of Galifrey, current regeneration number nine.**"

"Regeneration?" Sparkler asked. "What's regeneration?"

"Let me see." Twilight whispered as she started to read out loud.

"**This latest regeneration marks the ninth regeneration that I've endured through."** She read calmly. **"My current body is five foot seven, age estimated in the late thirties. I have black hair with hazel eyes, still not a platinum blonde, though this is a vast improvement over my previous regeneration into a ginger teenager with green eyes. After seven regenerations I can finally conclude that my efforts for the past six hundred years have finally born fruit. I believe that I can extend my regeneration cycle, according to biology books and experiments conducted on myself. Though the information does not suggest how long I will be able to extend my cycle, it is clear that I can allow myself an extra few lifetimes. At most I believe I have extended my regeneration to two thousand, however until my thirteenth regeneration, I will not know if my efforts have succeeded."**

"**It is very lonely here aboard my Tardis, I have only noticed it after my third regeneration. I walk these hallways alone, always alone, knowing that nobody else is walking them with me, and I will not encounter anyone else in these corridors. My morning, evening and afternoon meals have been taken and eaten in the heart of my Tardis, sometimes I take them into the engine room. There I talk to myself, talk to my ship or even the engine itself, and I listen to the hum of the engine as it continued to power Tardis and all of the sections on board. I talk to my ship because, out of every being in the galaxy, my Tardis alone understands how I feel. After all, I'm the only Time Lord in the galaxy and it is the only Tardis left as well. It seems that while I was prepared in terms of food and water for many years, I was not prepared mentally for enduring the centuries of time all alone in this ship."**

"**Being alone had taken a drastic toll on my sense of self, as I have more than often found myself thinking of home in these lonely times. I think of the home that I had on Galifrey when I as a young Time Lord, I think of my mother and father and younger brother. I can still remember my mother's voice as she asked me how my studies in mechanical engineering and quantum mechanics were going. My brother was studying the arts, and was planning to become an artist in theatrics. Father was one of the few dentists around on Galifrey, thanks to new technology that all but removed his hobby. I mourn for their loss, wondering if I could have escaped with them before it was too late… and I realize that the answer is no, there was no way I could have gotten to them and had enough time to escape, I had already fled in my Tardis just as the Daleks closed in on our city. My father… mother… and brother… what would have happened had we survived. These are my thoughts as I write in this journal… to remind myself of what I have lost and what I will never have again. Writing my thoughts is the only thing that keeps reminding me of my loss as I now think even more morbid thoughts."**

"**I have often found myself talking to myself, asking if I would be better off just ending my existence along with my Tardis by just plotting a course into the nearest black hole and allowing fate to take both of our lives, then fighting the sands of time and fate by attempting to control and fight death itself. These days the only way I can find a way to pass the time without thinking such morbid thoughts is to play chess… against myself. It seems a rather boring way to pass the time, but since there isn't a chess master at my level for light years, it is the only thing I can do to keep myself from going insane with boredom and idleness. Still I have found something interesting today that has definitely captured my interest."**

"**Earlier today my Tardis scanned the area around the Solaris Nebula in the twelfth quadrant of the Cyber System, just at the edge of Cyber Men controlled territory. The nebula contained a damaged and abandoned Dalek ship, at first I figured was the remains of some long forgotten battle from The Last Great Time War, but upon closer inspection was a very recent acquisition of the nebula. I boarded the vessel and downloaded all of the computer data it contained. After returning to my Tardis and examining the data I found noting interesting but a recent battle between the Daleks aboard the ship, and a being they kept referring to as 'The Predator'… who or what this 'Predator' was fascinated me. For only the strongest of races could ever bring a race like The Daleks to their knees. What's more this 'Predator' not only destroyed this ship, but hundreds if not more single handedly, and always leaving no indication as to who or what race they belonged to. My race was the only one that fought the Daleks and had the best chance of defeating them. If my species was all but extinct… who or what could defeat an entire ship full of Daleks alone?"**

"**Images of this attacker were not available, but I became intrigued when I approached the nearby planetoid called Gilvar V, home to a trading civilization. It still amazes me that these advanced civilizations still have not solved their global crisis in dealing with world hunger and planetary food shortages. This has been a boon to me because my Tardis has only one occupant to feed, whereas it is capable of cultivating enough food to feed thousands monthly. As I traded my spare food for currency I began to hear the strangest of rumors among the traders as they went about their business."**

"**It was as I stocked up on replacement parts and new seeds to cultivate for food that I started hearing rumors of a great warrior, one that lived many lives and performed miracles and heroic deeds. These rumors spoke of this legendary being, called The Doctor, who took the form of a Human and traveled around in a blue box. As I journeyed to different planets the stories continued to grow greater and more glamorous with each telling, and soon enough the word's 'Time Lord' started cropping up after my twenty fifth planetoid visit. I became excited at these words, for indeed if this being was a Time Lord as the locals and natives spoke of, then it became clear that I was not alone in the galaxy. Another of my kind had survived, maybe more, and not only that but he had his own Tardis because of the descriptions of a blue box being bigger on the inside then the outside portrayed."**

"**If this Doctor is a Time Lord, I must find him; I finally have a purpose after nearly six hundred years of idleness and isolation. I only hope that I can find him before he vanishes from the galaxy, whether by death or by time."**

"Are we talking about the same Mare who threatened my sister, captured Princess Celestia, wounded hundreds of Pegasi and captured my father?" Sparkler asked as Twilight turned the page and continued reading silently. "I almost feel sorry for her after all this reading. She really lost a lot, no wonder she's so mean and so… crazy. She's been alone for all this time."

"Yea… can you imagine, being the only Pegasus or Unicorn in all of Equestria?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly.

"I don't even want to think about it." Sparkler said in agreement. "Six hundred years… all alone on this ship… eating meals with nopony to talk to but yourself, how can anypony handle that?"

"Wow, she really went on a searching spree for your father Sparkler." Twilight said as she turned the page to increasingly shorter notes. "Listen to this one; apparently she spent a lot of time looking for your father on a planet called, Earth. Anyway here listen to this entry."

Twilight turned the page back and began reading again. **"This entry marks the year eight hundred and fifty seven after the fall of Galifrey, current regeneration number fourteen, my current body is that of a woman in her early twenties, still not a platinum blonde."** She read. **"I am currently piloting my Tardis toward the Terran System, home to a solar system of eight planetoids, one asteroid belt and one large asteroid, all orbiting around a G-Type Yellow Dwarf star. After five regenerations worth of years I have deduced the location and general whereabouts of The Doctor, the Time Lord that I have been searching for several centuries now. According to my data The Doctor is located on the third and only habitable planetoid in this system. The species classified as humans bear a similar resemblance to my own Time Lord species, which is a benefit to me because this means I can pass myself off as a native to the planet. I can even pass my clothing off as a foreign outfit if possible."**

"**My search has become more hopeful and hopeless at the same time. Hopeful because with each moment I draw closer to him, I feel myself imagining the rebirth and revival of my species. However at the same time I feel a sense of hopelessness because my search for him has spanned so many regenerations and so many years. My information tells me that he has the ability to travel through time as well as space, no doubt thanks to a newer Tardis model or a custom model. If I reach this small jewel of a planet, for it is indeed a jewel among the lifeless balls of hydrogen and rock that encompass most of the system, will he be there? It is one thing to follow someone across space; it is another to follow them through time."**

"**Earth, the home planet of the human species, is a tiny blue ball in this system. I'm impressed that such a system can be home to such a unique series of planetoids. Four gas giants sit outside a ring of asteroids, and four smaller planetoids, three of which are lifeless, are lined along the inside ring. The closer of the four inner planets are too close to allow anything unshielded from the intense heat and rays of the sun to be. The third planet is the only one capable of supporting life, apparently at just the right distance that the suns radiation and heat are not harmful and do not cause the water on the planet to dry up. Why the fourth planet does not follow the third's example is not my concern however, for my interest in this system concerns only the third planet."**

"**My Tardis is currently twelve million miles away from the planet; it will take him a few years to reach the planet. I don't understand why beings constantly like to give their ships, computers, and other devices genders. Perhaps because I'm female and the phenomena drives me to give my Tardis a male gender the same way males are driven to give their devices and ships female genders. In any case my ship has seen better days, it was an older model to begin with and nearly nine hundred years of travel and isolation has worn down many of the internal rooms and systems. Dust has gotten into most of the rooms and I find myself on cleaning duty more often then I care for. How I wish I had help to maintain everything aboard this ship, but alas I am alone in my never ending quest and losing battle against the dust and constantly failing systems of my ship. I hope this Doctor is still on Earth, because I really don't want to have to go chasing the galaxy for him. My Tardis just can't take the strain much longer; it's already on its last limbs."**

"She visited how many planets?" Sparkler asked. "Millions of miles away, years of travel just to reach one planet… how big is the universe?"

"Very big… if these entries are anything to go by." Twilight said as she turned to the next page and began reading again.

"**This entry marks the nine hundred and first year after the fall of Gaifrey, current regeneration number is fifteen."** Twilight said. **"My current regeneration is that of a brown long haired woman in her early twenties, still not a platinum blonde. Of all the planets I've ever visited this planet is by far the most VIOLENT among the galaxy. These beings don't need Daleks or Cyber Men or anything else in the galaxy to destroy them; they do a good job of destroying themselves on a daily basis. According to my Tardis I landed somewhere in the year 1096 local timeline, on the continental tip of Africa which borders Europe and Asia. I also had the misfortune to land in Egypt during a war; apparently the Crusades are a big thing. It has been forty years since I arrived on this miserable ball of water and already I am wishing I were still in isolation aboard my Tardis back in space."**

"**I ended up being dragged into the war as a healer, which is a laughable way of describing sexism on this planet. I became a nurse for the crusaders as they made their march across the desert, they ended up burning me because they thought I was a heathen and a witch because I was able to carry several pieces of heavy knight armor with 'weak woman hands', which of course resulted in my being burned and forcing me to an early regeneration. Fortunately I still had access to my species' Mind over Matter technique, so I pretended to be burned to death and used my regeneration to escape, once the flames burned enough of the ropes binding me to escape. Thank Galifrey that I was born a Time Lord…"**

"**The current year is 1144 of this planet's timeline, the rumors of a second crusade to the 'Holy Lands' grow more likely each day. I have already disguised my Tardis as a local rock formation to hide it from sight and have elected to remain inside until the war passes by. These barbarians are all fighting over trivial matters in the searing heat for some deity they believe, commanded them to spill blood in their name. I will never understand the purpose of sacrificing the lives of millions of healthy, smart and sometimes wonderful lives over miles of endless expanses of desert. There's nothing out there besides the minerals and oil that this species has no knowledge of yet and of course sand and dirt and sparse plant and animal life. However I have elected to remain impartial and unwilling to choose a side to support, therefore I keep to myself and refrain from examining the reasons behind this pathetic waste of time, money, and blood they call a holy war."**

"**My search for The Doctor has provided little insight, mostly because the information I have discovered yields nothing to the identity of a being with, long life and a blue box. The only long lived member of this species is a dead deity that these humans are fighting for. There is a good chance that I arrived on the right planet but at the wrong time. My Tardis has done its best to scan for The Doctor, and while I have found more clues to his identity and where he may be, I still have not been able to find him. I feel as though my Tardis is leading me on wild goose chases. Great now I'm starting to use the local's catch phrases, I need to get off this planet soon."**

"**If my information is correct and this is indeed the planet he hails to and from, then I must wait, no matter how long I must wait. It may be hundreds of years before he finally shows up, which means I had better prepare my Tardis and I for a long and very lonely… wait. By the sands of time I hate this planet…"**

"This Earth doesn't exactly sound like a place I'd like to live." Rainbow Dash said as Twilight flipped through the pages for a few more minutes. "I mean they had a war over worthless desert? What kind of idiots are these humans?"

"Hey leave them alone." Sparkler said. "We don't know why they were really fighting, and besides it's not like she did some real investigation into the reasons behind it. So for all we know there was a bigger reason behind the war."

"Hey there are only a few entries left in this journal." Twilight said as she turned to the last page and saw only one final entry. "The next three entries are all that remains in this journal, look like she stopped recording her thoughts as time went on."

"Well what do they say?" Sparkler asked quietly, as much as she wanted to go back to searching for her father and the princess, she was interested in hearing about where her father originally came from.

"**This entry marks one thousand two hundred and fifteen years after the fall of Galifrey, current regeneration number is nineteen."** Twilight read. **"My current form is that of a dirty blonde haired woman in her early forties, still not platinum blonde but getting closer. After much work and sacrificing of some of my Tardis systems I have managed to create a second hand time traveling module which has allowed my Tardis to enter the Time Vortex and change the year I was in. Thank goodness because I couldn't take primitive human society in the year 1358. My second hand Time Traveling unit is nothing compared to what the newer models would have had, but it's the best I can do given the already limited resources at my disposal inside my Tardis. I had to sacrifice much of the second level's internal wiring and microchips to create the module, not to mention I had to scrounge of fifteen points of this planet's uranium to generate enough power for the module to work. That is of course without drawing even more power from the already overtaxed and outdated engines of my Tardis. If Galifrey were still around, and a standard ship maintenance crew was available, I could have replaced the engines with brand new models that could power the entire thing and more on their own. Without that luxury however, I must make do with what I've got… and I've got so little to work with."**

"**The trip through time taxed the module and my ship's engines beyond their limits; fortunately we landed in the late twentieth century where Mankind has evolved to a substandard level when compared to Time Lord Standards. They have begun to over mine their planets natural and limited resources, but they are making progress towards utilizing other resources. As slow and backwards thinking as they are, they have made wondrous leaps and bounds in terms of technology and imagination and creativity. They think inside and outside of the box and use the best of their limited technological capabilities to achieve their goals. However they are still a substandard species because as morally impressive they try to be they still do not understand the major causes to their largest problems. They have vastly overpopulated their planet, and as such they cannot maintain themselves economically speaking for much longer. The overpopulation of their planet has also taxed their food productivity, and they waste vast quantities of food each year mind you, but they still get by each day. Still despite the problems their technology has allowed me to replace and repair sections of my Tardis, though I've had to be very discreet with what I steal and how much of it. I've had to regenerate twice in this time because I failed to take what I needed quietly. Fortunately my regeneration's managed to go unnoticed so they believe my previous forms to be dead or missing. These humans can be so easily fooled some days."**

"**My search for The Doctor has gained speed since I came to this time. I discovered that he spent many of his regenerations in the English area of this planet, namely the island of Great Britain. My Tardis picked up his time signal several times in the past few years since I came here, however I won't be able to chase after him through time and space until my engines and the time module recover enough energy to make the jump. I estimate that at least another ten to fifteen years is required before my Tardis can travel through time again. While I wait for my systems to be restored I have made some inquiries into The Doctor's identity and whereabouts on this planet. The source of his action and heroics has all stemmed from this planet, as several strange incidents have occurred over time that have been covered up by the local governments to conceal the truth from the public. Apparently they aren't ready to accept that there are other beings in the galaxy besides them."**

"**The information I've found out suggests that The Doctor has performed amazing feats that are beyond the comprehension and capabilities of these humans. The ones that know him and of him talk about him as though he were a god, but a mortal one at that, one that has spent many regenerations saving the lives of millions at the cost and expense of hundreds. He has faced great enemies alone, sometimes with the help of local humans he has brought along as companions. These enemies range from Daleks, and not just lonely Daleks but entire ships and even fleets of them alone. He has triumphed against Cyber Men and outwitted Weeping Angels from across time. He has no limits it seems and this gives me such feelings and wonders as I can feel myself closing in on him."**

"**Together…maybe we… if possible… together we can rebuild our civilization. All it takes is one male and one female member of a species… perhaps…"**

"**My loneliness is getting to me clearly. I've never felt so alone even though I've finally found him, I have to constantly remind myself that UNTILL I can actually meet with him face to face, he is still out of my reach. I will continue looking for him, but I have to wonder… why is he doing all of this? What would compel a Time Lord to pursue such a life, a life of fighting the evils and injustice of this universe? The companions and those who have met him tell me the same thing. He seems to be running from something, something in his past that they feel he can never be forgiven for. What could he have done that would drive hi so… that is what I wonder as I continue to search for information about him."**

"She had a thing for my dad?" Sparkler asked skeptically. "Glad he didn't marry her, I wouldn't want her as my mother."

"The Doctor's wife is almost a princess by comparison, albeit a clumsy princess who gets lost every day." Twilight said.

"Running from something in his past… why does that sound so familiar Twilight?" Rainbow Dash said.

"I think I know why." Twilight said as she turned the page to the next entry.

"Why, what was my father running from?" Sparkler asked, not sure why her father would be running from something as Twilight started reading the next entry.

"**This entry marks one thousand three hundred years after the fall of Galifrey, my current regeneration number is twenty two, still not a platinum blonde."** She said. **"My search for The Doctor has taken me from the planet Earth and now I look for him across the galaxy. I've had my Tardis use most of its power to examine every one of the planets I've heard he has visited and look for the trace amounts of residual Time Energy he has left behind. I know now why he runs, why he fights seemingly hopeless odds and why he continues to protect the lives of these substandard species that he comes across. After nearly fifty years of searching through Earth's documented history and undocumented history I've finally deduced the reason behind his actions."**

"**That monster… he is the reason behind the end of The Last Great Time War! It was by his hand that my people were wiped out and driven to the point of extinction. That is what he has been running from; he is not a great saint or a miraculous being. He's not a hero and he's certainly not a being to be respected and admired. He is nothing more than a filthy, mass murderer! That piece of diseased Dalek trash is nothing but an exterminator of species and taker of innocent lives."**

"**My search for this monster has driven me to leave the planet Earth in search of his whereabouts. I will find him sooner or later; he cannot hide from me forever! I will use every last piece of technology aboard this broken down Tardis to find him, even if I have to follow him into the very core of a super nova!"**

"**How could I have ever thought of rebuilding my species with him… what an utter fool I am… but still… is he the only hope I have? If my efforts prove futile and I cannot gain his assistance, I will have to pursue alternate methods of rebuilding my species. It's hopeless yes but I must at least try!"**

"**I pledge this as one of the last Time Lords; I will find a way to save my species, even if I have to destroy one of the last remaining members of my species to do it!"**

Sparkler heard the entry and swore she was hearing something very different. "No… my father's not a monster!" She said, taking the journal and reading the entry for herself. "She has to be looking for another Doctor Hooves; my dad would never hurt a Parasprite! My father's a loving caring stallion who thinks nothing but wonderful thoughts and creates beautiful toys designed for fillies and foals."

"It does tie in with what Ditzy told us." Twilight said. "She told us that her father was running from a great war that he caused the end of. She also did say that he destroyed his entire species, leaving him supposedly alone."

"No I refuse to believe that my father killed anypony!" Sparkler said determinedly as she flung the book back onto the table. "My father is a good stallion; my family may be adopted but there is no way they could have such a terrible pony for a father!"

"Well before you start changing opinions, what does the last entry say Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.

It took Twilight a moment to begin reading the last entry in the journal. **"This entry marks the last entry I will make for a very long time." **She read out loud. **"Current year is one thousand four hundred and eighty seven years after the fall of Galifrey; I have recently regenerated into my twenty fourth regeneration as a Quadruped. While it is not improbable for a Time Lord to regenerate into a different species, I can't help but wonder what was going on with this latest regeneration. In any case this latest regeneration is the result of over one hundred years of searching the galaxy for that criminal Time Lord. My scanners aboard the Tardis lost track of his Time Energy Signature, without that signature I cannot locate him in this galaxy. However my scans also indicate that while he vanished from this galactic plain, there seems to be a very small crack in the abstract plain. My scans also tell me that he seem to have fallen through that crack with his Tardis and into another universe fairly identical to this one if my scans are anything to go by. My scanners, outdated and barely functioning as well as unreliable, tell me that two additional Tardis signatures are detected going through that crack. I think my Tardis is starting to break down finally after all these years of low end and substandard maintenance, perhaps its picking up residual signatures of the same Tardis."**

"**In any case my new Quadruped body lacks hands, fingers, opposable thumbs and other things that I sorely miss now that I don't have them. Which means I had to, with careful usage of my mouth, create an auto writing tool capable of rewriting my spoken words. Back on track now, my Tardis fell through the abstract plain as well but suffered massive interior damage, myself included which resulted in my being forced to regenerate well ahead of normal regeneration time. My Tardis is currently orbiting a planetoid familiar to Earth but with seventy percent landmass and thirty percent water. My guess is the natives of this planet are all Quadrupeds, which will explain why I'm a Quadruped as well. On one hand… er hoof if my body is anything to go by, my new body is fairly attractive. I have a silver grey mane with a chestnut coat… still not platinum blonde when am I going to be a platinum blonde. Another thing I discovered is this strange tattoo on my rump, an hourglass at an angle. Not sure what that means but at least it looks nice."**

"**Back to my Tardis again, after I repaired them my scanners indicated that a strong Time Energy Signature was present in the current system which I've dubbed the Quadru System. While the signature can be found in different neighboring systems it is strongest here on this green planet. I will soon land on the planet and activate my Tardis' self-restoration systems. While they aren't working properly they should at least repair most of the internal damage while I investigate the surrounding land.**

"**This is my first amendment to this entry, adding additional information following my arrival to this strange planetoid over five months ago. The species on this planet are by far… the friendliest I have ever met in this or any universe. There isn't much in the way of world hunger, and they seem to possess rulers who truly care about their subject's wellbeing. This nation or kingdom whatever you choose call it, is called Equestria and is ruled by two Quadruped Princesses called Luna and Celestia. The species called ponies are divided into three races called Earth ponies, Unicorn ponies and Pegasus ponies; they bear distinct resemblance to horses and ponies from Earth's mythology and local species. My body is that of an Earth pony, typical when you think about it. Of the three species I could have been, why did I have to regenerate into the most restricted of the three? If it comes down to a fight between me and them I am going to have to create some devices to give me an edge."**

"**However I doubt that it will ever really come down to a fight with them, these ponies are indeed very friendly. I once asked a stallion and his wife for directions to the nearest living quarters, or hotel, and they offered me a room for the night at their house. I have never once been offered a chance to stay inside a stranger's home, let alone a family's house! Needless to say I had to decline because of obvious reasons to maintain my anonymity. I don't want help and don't need help locating The Doctor; this is my quest and nobody else's."**

"**Another thing I've discovered is that my scanners are becoming increasingly useless on this planet. The Unicorn members use something called magic, to take care of many of their daily duties and business. This magic is impairing my scans from getting a clear lock on the Time Energy Signature I detected emanating from the planet earlier. He picked one heck of a hiding spot, I'll give him that. Assuming he is still here I will have to search high and low again."**

"**It's been nearly six months now and I have discovered possible evidence after traveling from the city Las Pegasus, indicating that The Doctor might have had some influence with the governing body of this nation. Tomorrow I will go to the only place which will have the information I seek, the capitol city of Canterlot. The Royal Library there should have the information I seek, I have prepared several devices to conceal myself there as I approach the city and once inside. Hopefully this species' propensity for kindness continues, as well as their stupidity and mellow society, and they ignore and allow me to search for the information I seek."**

"**Mother, father… brother… soon you will be avenged. One way or another, you will be avenged… you and every other Time Lord will be avenged, of this I swear as the Last of the Time Lords!"**

Twilight closed the book and looked at Sparkler and Rainbow Dash. "She went from being a good hearted Time Lord to being a lonely one, and now she's bent on revenge." She said. "I almost feel sorry for her, no wonder she's like this and why she's going through all this."

"Well Sparkler, now what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Keep looking for your dad and Princess Celestia right?"

Sparkler nodded her head and led the way out of the library, not sure what to think of her father after everything that she just heard. "Let's go, I won't believe anything she says about my dad until I hear it from him. So let's get going!"


	11. Intermission

Intermission

**/watch?v=7gzFjjCWvPE**

My oh my is my throat sore boys and girls.

Just give me a moment to catch my breath before we begin again.

Well kids, the night is still young and the story is not yet finished. Are you enjoying the show so far, because we have a ton left to deal with, namely that of The Doctor's and Celestia's rescue, do you think they will escape the clutches of The Professor before it's too late?

Will Sparkler, Twilight and Rainbow Dash locate them before they alert The Professor to their presence?

I can't wait to find out, but before we continue with our story I need to refresh my throat with a quick glass of Jack Daniels finest!

*Drink's a glass*

Ah, there we go.

Tell me while we wait for my liver to brace itself, are you enjoying the story so far? I noticed not a lot of you are reviewing, come on now don't be shy, I don't bite much hehehehehe.

Go ahead and give us a review or two, let us know what you're thinking in those noggins of yours.

Back to the story, did you all get a glimpse as to why The Professor is the way she is?

The boss knew you all were wondering why a girl would go so far for our favorite Time Lord. Well now you know, just a glimpse as to what happens in the mind of a Time Lord who is stranded in space all alone.

Well, I'll give you all a few moments to get yourselves settled in before I continue.

Let the curtains rise on the story, and may the stars never stop shining this night!


	12. Chapter 10 - He Who was Ignored

Chapter 10 – He Who was Ignored

=Sparkler's PoV=

"Okay enough reading books; let's get back to finding the ponies we came here to find!" Sparkler whispered as they left the library and started walking down the hallway they had originally meant to before being side tracked.

They began searching the rooms again one at a time, but now they knew that all the rooms were in poor condition thanks to The Professor's journal. However Sparkler wasn't going to buy a word of it, especially when it concerned her father. Until she spoke to him personally about everything that has happened over the past few days, she refused to hear another bad word about him.

As they looked inside each room they noticed that they were becoming increasingly filthier and increasingly unkempt. They still had no idea how to open some of the doors they came across, but they started noticing some new rooms along with the Library that were in much better conditions, or at least cleaner, then the majority of the rooms they looked inside. Some of them looked like museums containing art pieces and artifacts that they had no idea what purpose they served. At least unstill they came across one which contained pieces of art belonging to Equestria, such as a copy of Nightmare Moon's banishment, and the First Defeat of Discord.

There they found more pieces and clues that The Professor had indeed been linking their kingdom's history to Sparklers father. They found a single piece of paper with the words 'The Doctor' on it, and several lines drawn to it and the pictures surrounding it. Some of the lines said things like, 'Was he here?' and, 'Could have intervened as well?'

Several pages littered a nearby table, and all of them apparently came from art books because they featured several clippings of art with descriptions of each picture. Several words were highlighted and had subtitles next to them with phrases in golden text. One of them had three pieces of pages linked together with something sticky and several paragraphs all circled and linked to a single bubble with the phrase, 'Who keeps advising these rulers?' with a subtitle underneath it saying, 'Is it possible HE was there?'

They left the room soon after and began searching for Princess Celestia and Sparkler's father again.

"How I wish I were more proficient with magic." Sparkler whispered to Rainbow Dash as they looked inside the twelfth door they came across.

"Least you have magic and can use it." Rainbow Dash said as she checked the next room in the line. "I'm a Pegasus; flying is useless in these cramped corridors."

"Yea, I only failed magic class two years in a row." Sparkler complained as she watched Twilight cast a location spell while looking inside a room and trying to open its door at the same time. "Stupid test, why does levitating a small object have to be so hard? I could have passed it the second time if they had given me a smaller ball."

Twilight continued to try opening doors for several more feet until suddenly she stopped walking. "Hold up, I'm sensing something!" She said excitedly.

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm sensing a pony nearby, it's very familiar." Twilight whispered. "It's… not an Earth pony, nor a Unicorn or even a Pegasus. It feels like all… three… IT'S THE PRINCESS! She's close by!"

"Which way?" Sparkler asked.

"This way." Twilight called as she ran down the corridor, Sparkler and Rainbow Dash right on her hooves as she stalled for only a few seconds when they reached a fork before heading down the left path. A couple of doors down the corridor they saw a locked room with the light on. The instant they reached the door Twilight ran up to it and looked inside. "PRINCESS? PRINCESS CELESTIA?"

Sparkler ran up to Twilight and checked the inside as well. There lying on a very fancy bed, apparently sleeping was Princess Celestia. She looked unharmed as her rainbow mane flowed freely over the edge of the mattress. But for some reason she didn't notice or hear the cries of Twilight Sparkle's yells.

"Princess, Princess Celestia can you her me?" Twilight said, now using her hooves to pound on the door to try and get Celestia's attention.

It worked, Celestia lifted her head and looked at the door momentarily before her eyes widened at who they were seeing. She jumped off the bed and ran to the door, smiling gently as she looked at Twilight, Sparkler, and Rainbow Dash through the window.

"Princess, oh thank the stars your safe!" Twilight said as Celestia reached the door.

Celestia however shook her head and pointed at the door before pointing at her ear and shaking her head again, clearly telling them that she couldn't hear them through the door. "Hang on Princess; we'll get you out of there!" Twilight said as she started using magic on the door, but whatever spell she was trying had no effect. Seconds after Twilight's first spell failed she tried a second spell, which also seemed to fail because she tried a third spell afterwards. Finally out of frustration Twilight grabbed the door mechanism and tried to turn it to the unlock position manually, but it refused to budge no matter how much she pulled or pushed. Sparkler and Rainbow Dash started trying to help but even combined they couldn't get the door to open.

Celestia tapped the glass urgently to get their attention; once she had it she backed up and started tapping the floor with her hooves constantly, making sure they were watching. "What is she trying to tell us?" Sparkler asked.

"I think its Morse Code." Twilight whispered as she watched Celestia continue to tap the floor again and again. "Let's see… two taps… three taps… another two taps… another two… another three again… ugh I don't understand what is she trying to say!"

Celestia looked confused when she noticed that they didn't seem to understand and she started shifting her eyes left and right in thought. Apparently she got an idea because she walked over to the window and her horn glowed as she cast a spell of some kind. The window immediately fogged up, obscuring their view of the inside, but a second later Celestia's hoof started wiping away bits of the fog to spell out several words, though they had to spell them backwards to make sense of what she was spelling.

"PAT EHT ROOLF ECIWT" They translated into, "TAP THE FLOOR TWICE."

"Alright' let's see if it works." Twilight said as she tapped her hooves twice on the floor.

Instantly they heard clanking as the door's lock shifted position and the door itself opened on its own. "Finally somepony's I recognize and can talk to!" Celestia said in relief as she walked out of the door, into the tight hug of Twilight Sparkle. "Hello my student, and to you to Rainbow dash, and you as well Sparkler Hooves, it is good to see friendly ponies once again. How did you all get here, I thought help would never show up! Where are we, what time of day is it, what's going on outside? I haven't heard any news of the outside since The Doctor was brought here. Tell me is Luna alright, are the stars and moon where they should be? How much time has passed since my capture?"

"It's been two days since you were captured." Rainbow Dash said as Twilight continued to hug The Princess tightly. "Luna's been able to hold down the fort since then but things are getting hectic by the minute without you. She's raised the sun lowered the moon put the stars in the right spots and all, but she can't deal with everything much longer. As for how we got here well that is a long story, but where we are is the middle of the Everfree Forest."

"Oh Princess we were so worried about you!" Twilight said tearfully. "Everything outside is going crazy, Canterlot is going nuts without you there and Princess Luna is having difficulty keeping everything under control! That mare used some kind of technology to get away with The Doctor; almost all the Pegasus ponies in Canterlot were badly injured when she fled. It's been utter chaos in the hospitals since then."

"Princess where's my father, do you know where he is?" Sparkler asked suddenly. She knew that Twilight was probably the second most worried pony for Celestia's safety next to Luna, but now that they knew she was safe and sound Celestia was the only pony who knew where her father was. "We came here to rescue you both, and I don't know where that mare is but she could be back at any time!"

"The Professor?" Celestia asked. "She's asleep at the moment; she suffered a near fatal heart attack and had to take emergency pills just to steady herself. She overextended herself by using her Mind over Matter Technique so much that her body couldn't take the strain any longer, so now she's asleep and will be out for at least several more hours. So at least we're safe for the moment."

They all sighed in relief at those words. "Okay so where's my father?" Sparkler asked.

Celestia looked down the corridor and thought hard as she tried to remember. "I don't remember, the last time I visited him was… well was before The Professor started torturing him." She said as she closed her eyes for a moment. "He's unconscious at the moment; I can't see anything through his eyes."

"How do you know he's unconscious?" Sparkler asked, wondering what kind of torture her father had endured while being held captive.

"I formed a link to him using my magic, and I've maintained that spell since the first session." Celestia said as she led the way down the hallway. "The link is physical as well as visual; I saw what he saw and felt what he felt. Not all of his pains mind you, but I still transferred half of his pain onto myself. It was my hope that we could endure as much pain together as possible until rescue arrived for us. When it became clear that she intended to torture him to the point of breaking him before killing him, I had to do whatever I could to prolong his strength of will."

"Princess… I never knew such a spell like that existed." Twilight said. "Why would you go that far? I mean we might not have gotten here for another day or more. Why would you…?"

"After everything The Doctor has done for us, both the past and present, there is nothing I would not endure to help him." Celestia said as she looked down a fork in the corridor before continuing. "He's saved my life time and time again, not to mention he's helped my kingdom even to this day! I assume Sparkler that you've heard his history by now?"

"Different perspectives yes…" Sparkler grunted as she recalled all the different things ponies have said about her father. "I'm told he's a toy maker in ponyville who my adopted mother fell in love with, then I'm told he's an alien from another world that I never even heard the name of before today and that he's a completely different species that my adopted mother traveled with for years, and now I've read that he's some kind of mass murderer with a propensity for killing innocent lives. So what's your perspective Princess?"

Twilight looked at Sparkler angrily at the sound of her rudeness, but Celestia paid no attention as she looked back at Sparkler with a small smile. "I believe exactly what I've seen of him and what he has done in front of me." She said. "I know he's a good stallion, despite what some may say about him I know he is a stallion who would gladly sacrifice himself to save the lives of others. He has done wrong in the past, of that I know, but that does not impact my judgment or opinion on who he is today. You have a wonderful father Sparkler Hooves, and you're lucky to have such a father never forget that."

Sparkler liked that way of thinking about her father much better than what she was thinking earlier. She smiled at the princess and thanked her for her perspective. "Also if you must hear my perspective, I've fantasized about myself being his wife once or twice over the years." She said jokingly as she continued to lead them toward a dead end with two doors on either side.

"What?!" Sparkler gasped. "I mean… I wha… didja wha… You what?"

"Princess?" Twilight asked. "You thought about marrying Sparkler's father?"

"Did I hear that correctly?" Rainbow Dash asked while trying not to laugh through her huge grin.

"Why do you think I went to such extent to keep his identity a secret?" Celestia said as she slowed her pace. "It wasn't just at his request you know, although that was the main reason, another reason was that if every mare in the kingdom knew who he was they'd never leave him alone. He'd have more date requests and proposals for his hoof in marriage then he would have toy requests from fillies and foals. Ditzy would have to fight off mares every minute of the day just to keep him to herself. A stallion like him would never be single for very long with his reputation. In any case your mother is a better match for him than I ever could be, so don't think much about it."

"Well… that's certainly… a new perspective alright." Sparkler said as she imagined Princess Celestia as her mom now. "Anyway where's my father, that's what I want to know."

"I can't remember which way to go you three, The Professor was the one who always led the way and most of the time everything was poorly lit, with exception to a few of the rooms." Celestia said as she looked at one door and tapped the floor twice, which caused the door to open on its own. "Let's see was it in this room?"

Sparkler walked inside behind Princess Celestia and had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room before she realized what was littering the floor at her hooves. Inside the room was three tables, one with computers and advanced wiring attached to helmets of varying size and cables of different thickness. A second table had drills and saws, as well as clamps to keep something or somepony strapped and immobile on the table. The third table was completely empty and only had three empty spherical cages. However it was the objects on the floor that captured her attention.

Littering the floor were the remains of dozens if not more Flyby Bird toys, and not the ones that her sister's Luna toy sent out earlier. These toys were all colored and painted carefully, each one bearing the scars of being drilled, ripped, and dismantled meticulously in the most efficient way possible. Wings were ripped in pieces and internal wiring was exposed in them, their bodies sawed in sections to expose the internal circuitry that her father spent so much time concealing from the bird's owners. On several wing pieces was an imprint of her father's hourglass cutie mark, indicating that he did indeed make these toys.

Now she understood what the Luna toy meant when it said that they would rather be destroyed then ever permit anypony from using them to bring harm to another pony. These toys had all been captured by her and were subjected to what could only be described as cruel and unusual torture from their perspective, and she had tried to force them to obey her instructions by reprogramming each and every one of them. Yet they had resisted her efforts to the best of their abilities, and for that minor resistance, they had suffered this fate.

"How many…" Sparkler whispered when Twilight and Rainbow Dash joined them "How many… of my dad's toys did she…?"

"Roughly forty toys at most were captured and destroyed because she couldn't reprogram them quickly enough." Celestia said as she picked up a wing that had been sawed, drilled and broken apart until it barely resembled a wing. "Of those toys only one managed to escape her clutches and get away, it fled to my room and I tried to hide it from her. Alas she knew where it was and soon exposed it; I tried desperately to convince her to let the toy go, but my request fell on deaf ears as she destroyed it in front of me. Six additional toys escaped the fate of their brethren, but they met a much worse fate by becoming slaves to her will. She turned them into her spies and sent two to your house Sparkler to watch for your sister's return. The other four she must have taken with her when she went after your little sister.

"Well in that case they're all mostly destroyed then, at least all but one I think." Rainbow Dash said. "I saw her trash the two at Dinky's home when she showed up there. Three were destroyed by the Luna toy before we came in here, which leaves one unaccounted for."

"Luna toy?" Celestia asked as Twilight walked over to a console with blinking red lights. "What Luna toy?"

"My father's latest prototype toy, a WalkNTalk Luna toy in the likeness of… well Princess Luna." Sparkler said. "It's one heck a toy my dad made for Dinky, it was able to locate my father in the Everfree forest, unlocked my father's Tardis with the help of Dinky's Flyby Bird toy Mr. TomTom, and even controlled a hundred plus toy birds to narrow onto my father's location. It even protected Dinky against that mare when she closed in on her."

Celestia's eyes looked impressed at the list of accomplishments that the toy managed to achieve. "That's quite a feat for a toy." She said. "In any case, it's a good those toys were destroyed, and I hope that the sixth is also lost as well. I don't want to think of any of the Doctor's creations being used against their will by that mare."

"I think we can count on them all being destroyed Princess." Twilight called from the console. "Take a look at what this console says over here."

They walked over to the console and read what Twilight was pointing at. The console featured six images of birds with the numbers one through six on each of them. Each of the images had a red X covering the birds, with the phrase 'Signal Lost' under each bird. "That one bird we saw outside called itself three of six." Sparkler said quietly. "It looks like the sixth toy that we didn't see was also destroyed."

"Well that's good; in any case this isn't the room we need to be. It's the room opposite us that we need to get in to find The Doctor." Celestia said as she beckoned them all to leave the room.

Sparkler took one last look at the remains of the captured toys and decided to let them be, there was no way even her father could repair the damage they suffered. After she silently thanked all the toys for their determination to resist The Professor she left the room and closed the door before following Celestia into the room opposite them. She immediately wished they were back in the toy graveyard room, because this second room drove her nostrils insane and she had a coughing fit just by walking in. The second barely lit and fairly small room contained three tables with different vials and glasses full of strange liquids. The smell lingering was foul beyond anything she had ever smelled before.

"Princess… what is this room?" Twilight coughed as she covered her nose to try and protect it from the disgusting smell lingering inside it, Rainbow Dash refrained from entering after she and Sparkler started coughing and gagging at the smell.

"It's a bio laboratory for The Professor." Celestia whispered as she walked over to the third table and lifted up the lone vial to examine its contents. "This room is where she performs, researches and experiments her Time Lord biological experiments, she also tests those experiments on herself. In any case this is what we came for, let's get out of here."

They quickly left the room and Sparkler breathed the clean, if not fresh, air of the corridor as Celestia closed the door behind them. "What did we need from a bio laboratory, Princess?" Twilight asked as she cleared her throat.

"This." She said as she held up the vial to them.

They all looked inside and saw a bright red piece of glowing string floating and twisting around inside some yellow liquid. It kept violently twisting and turning around inside the liquid every time it touched the sides of the vial. She had never seen this string before, but for some reason it felt extremely familiar. She also felt a strange sense of anguish and pain as she watched it writhing inside the vial, as though she had been jabbed by a hot piece of jagged metal hundreds and hundreds of times in her hooves, chest, face, back and any other part of her body that could be reached. All of that just by looking at the strange piece of red string in that vial.

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly.

"This is a strand of The Doctor's Time Energy Signature." Celestia whispered respectfully. "This single strand of his Time Lord Energy contains everything about The Doctor, down to the smallest detail. He told me that these golden strands of Time Energy surround and encompass every being throughout their life. The more significant that being is and the older they are, the more they have surrounding them. They connect themselves to key individuals in that being's life, and the stronger the connection the more strands that are connected."

"He also said that if enough strands are connected between two individuals then they can even feel what each other feel as naturally as though they were the same being." She said as she handed the vial to Twilight so that they could get a better glimpse of it. "Normally only Time Lords can see them, but these small wonders are apparently visible while in this liquid. I believe we can use this strand to help us locate your father Sparkler. This strand is trying to break free of its prison and rejoin with him, I think we can use this to help us search for him."

"That sounds as good a plan to me." Twilight said as she handed the vial back to Celestia. "One question though Princess, why can't we use a simple location spell? Also why is it every spell I try seem to have no effect in this thing?"

"I don't know my student, but whatever this Tardis is capable of that is preventing all our magic is stronger than anything I have ever seen." Celestia said as she started walking back down the corridor with the vial being levitated in front of her. "These Time Lords and their Tardis's are simply more powerful than anything we could bring against them. It's a blessing that The Doctor is a kind and gentle stallion and hasn't thought about trying to overthrow me and my sister."

"My father wouldn't do that!" Sparkler said quickly. "Would he… I mean would he do something like that?"

"My magic is useless against Time Lords unless it is helpful to them, and you've no doubt seen the results when we try and resist a determined Time Lord." Celestia said in a matter of fact tone. "There is absolutely nothing we can do to stop them; they have abilities and technology beyond our comprehension. They can do things that even we cannot do with magic, and with The Doctor's power over time, he could go to a point in Gaia's history where Luna and I are mere fillies and kill us, thus preventing us from ever rising to rule Equestria. Discord would have spread chaos uncontested, and who knows what would have happened to all of you. Perhaps none of you would have existed… I know you think I am a powerful pony, but whatever I can do will always pale in comparison to what he can do."

"I find it hard to imagine my father arranging a coup d'état." Sparkler said. "He seems content to make toys for a living while eating muffins that his wife makes."

"For which I a very grateful." Celestia said. "If he ever decided to overthrow me, all I would be able to do is surrender my throne and beg him to be a kinder ruler than I and Luna ever were. That is how much I respect him, and deep down how much I fear him. But on a gentler note, your father is certainly a good friend of mine, and I'm glad that he is on our side instead of against us."

They reached the fork they came from earlier and Celestia held the vial out to both hallways and watched as the string bent toward the left path before walking down the left route. The route became steadily darker as Celestia led them ever deeper into the depths of this Tardis. Sparkler once again felt the strange sensation of a presence, both alien and powerful, weighing down on her own mind. All she felt was a growing sense of fear and anger, and with each step she and the others took that feeling grew stronger and stronger. Whatever it was that didn't want her hear, really didn't want her to descend any further with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and now Princess Celestia. It wanted them to turn around, and was doing everything it could to scare them and force them to turn around. The problem was that its efforts were working slowly; as Sparkler felt her will to press on grow weaker and weaker with each passing step she took.

She wanted to go back, just to get away from this feeling that she was being watched, but she refused to break her promise to her little sister. She swore to get their father back and she wasn't going to be scared away by some strange feeling in her mind. Still that feeling grew stronger and stronger, the only time she ever felt this helpless was when she was face to face with that blue mare back in her father's Tardis. She too had felt strong and more powerful than any pony she knew, but she was kind and had no harsh feelings toward her or her sister, or any of them when they walked around.

"Princess, when you came down here… did you ever meet whatever it was that is causing this feeling?" Twilight whispered as she sidled up to Celestia for reassurance and safety.

"No, I know what you're hoping for but I did not encounter anypony besides The Doctor and The Professor while I was captured." Celestia said as they walked down a small flight of stairs to a lower level. "However I too felt this same presence when she brought me down here, it wasn't this malevolent or cruel, but it didn't want me going down here either way."

They continued to walk down the corridors before finally Celestia stopped and pointed ahead of them toward an opening that was fairly wide, even by the standards that Sparkler was used to when concerning these Time Lords. "There, that's where your father is being held captive Sparkler." She said quietly as she took the vial containing the strand of Time Energy and uncapped it, releasing the string as it momentarily shot into the air and vanished as it sped toward the open room. "Come on, the sooner we get him free the faster we can leave!"

Sparkler didn't need to be told twice; she ran into the room before any of them could and immediately found her father. The second she did all of her worries and fears about what her father did were wiped away and forgotten as she saw him suspended in the air in the center of the room. His hooves were held up by bars of light as he seemed to float in the air. He was badly hurt, his body famished from lack of food for two days, and in very poor health judging by the way his mane was unkempt and his coat was coated with dirt and burn marks.

"Father!" Sparkler shouted as she ran up to him and tried to wake him up. "Father, wake up!"

"Is he alright?" Twilight asked as she Celestia and Rainbow Dash joined her.

"I don't know, he isn't awake." Sparkler said as she tried to check his pulse.

"Well how do we free him, where's the off button for whatever is holding him up?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No wait, something isn't right here." Celestia whispered as she looked around before turning her attention back to The Doctor. "He wasn't suspended by light the last time I saw him. He was held up by chains, where did all the chains and clamps go that were restraining him?"

(What, not impressed by a standard antigravity prison?) A voice called out from behind them all. (What do I have to do to impress you, make the sun rise at midnight without affecting this planet's natural rotation cycle?)

They looked behind them but saw nopony standing there. "Did you hear somepony Princess?" Sparkler asked quietly.

(Maybe I should turn your rivers into streams of gold, would that make you respect what you see before you?) The voice declared as a wisp of dust seemed to flow into the room. (Would you be impressed if I slowed down time for you? Maybe I could bring your past and future selves before you and then you would be impressed?)

"Yes and I'm guessing you all heard that as well?" She replied, to which they nodded.

(Why did you come here, what do you gain by remaining inside me?) The voice said sinisterly, and Sparkler swore she saw a dark figure out of the corner of her eye but the moment she looked there it vanished. (Answer me why are you here in this room, deep at the core of my heart where I can feel and express my emotions in their purest form?)

"To rescue my father and Princess Celestia!" Sparkler shouted defiantly.

(You have your princess, so why are you still here, I don't see your father anywhere here.) The voice said, and Sparkler could swear she heard breathing behind her, but when she turned to look there was only an empty and rusted wall. (Other than an Alicorn, a Pegasus and Two Unicorns, there are no other ponies. The only other ones you could be looking for is me… and two Time Lords.)

"Doctor Hooves is Sparkler's father!" Twilight said as she stood with her back to Celestia.

(Wrong… he is her ADOPTED father… but she clearly said she was looking or her FATHER, not her adopted father.) The voice said as Sparkler felt something fly right above her, but still there was nothing there. (Unless I am mistaken, her father is a pony native to this planet… The Doctor is a Time Lord from another planet and another dimension, clearly not native to this planet. Which begs the question of why you have come in search of this monster?)

"The Doctor is not a monster!" Celestia shouted, using her magic to illuminate the room so they could see better, but the instant she did her magic seemed to fade away into nothingness.

(Your magic is useless here; if I don't want you to use it you cannot use it.) The voice said again from all sides this time. (As for your statement, she who would surrender at the drop of a hat to one who submits himself to her, he is indeed a monster. He has destroyed more lives and changed the destinies of more than you could ever conceive of. He is a being who has turned armies around at the mere mention of his name, ended wars before they could begin just by spreading rumors of his coming, and could end everything just by being at the beginning of anything. Tell me… is he anything but a monster because of this?)

"If he's so scary then how come Ditzy married him?" Rainbow Dash called out bravely, but Sparkler could tell that she was very unnerved by this mysterious voice.

(Who can tell what a female thinks at the time of consummation and fertility.) The voice said in a bored tone. (There are cultures across the stars where the female does not fall in love with the male until he proves his worth to her, sometimes through combat and other such means. Perhaps she became entranced by his actions and felt herself surrendering to him even as he destroyed millions of lives, directly or indirectly, in front of her very eyes. Who's to say? Perhaps she gets off on murderers and destructive beings. Who's to say?)

"I say come on out of hiding!" Sparkler shouted angrily. "I'm not afraid of you!"

"So why are you shaking so much?" A voice whispered to Sparkler's left hear.

She screamed as she jumped back from the pony to her left, causing Celestia, Twilight and Rainbow Dash to look over at the pony that scared her. The stallion was an Earth Pony and stood just as tall as Celestia, had a dirty yellow coat and silver eyes with a grey mane, but lacked a cutie mark. He also had huge bags under his eyes as he stared at them angrily. His coat was covered in dust, dirt, and clearly showed signs of age as patches of his coat were missing. His mane was a mess, full of cobwebs and dust, yet still had a shimmering glean of magnificent from its past glory when it portrayed beauty and magnificence. Sparkler could tell that he was eerily similar to the blue mare from her father's Tardis, in that she had felt young and old, wise and ignorant, and cruel and kind in equally great measures.

This stallion also portrayed wisdom and ignorance in his eyes, but he was not even remarkably young, in fact he was clearly very old. He looked like he could collapse right in front of them if she just pushed him a little bit. Yet at the same time that he looked frail and old, he felt powerful and all seeing. He radiated with energy that just shoved at Sparkler in such waves that she was having difficulty breathing normally. This was not a normal stallion, and he was nothing like the blue mare from before, who appeared before them singing her little sister to sleep with a comforting lullaby while playing a beautiful harp and singing majestically in her voice. He had tried to scare them away by inspiring unsuppressed fear and anger in them. His first appearance before them was that of inspiring even more fear and making them question their strength of will, before startling them with his old and frail yet strong and determined appearance.

"Well… you're certainly not what I expected." Sparkler said.

"Well excuse me for not being on par with special effects." The stallion said in an annoyed tone. "I'm only a one thousand nine hundred and fifty year old Tardis. It's not like I go around showing off displays of romantic songs and wonderful special effects shows. I figured if I gave you a good warning you'd leave me and return to your little planet."

He turned and stared at Princess Celestia with a look of contempt. "But no you had to keep coming down here; you just couldn't leave and return to your precious ponies, you had to come back for him." He said. "Why didn't you take the hint the first time, I didn't want you here any longer then was needed. I figured you would stay but still, I had no choice but to deal with you for twenty eight hours, after that though you just wouldn't leave."

"You three also, I sensed you and your friends approaching and knew you were getting closer, but there was nothing I could do to thwart that accursed toy." He said as he turned to stare at Sparkler, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. "You little Teacher's Pet, always trying to understand everything and can't resist opening a book you've never read before, didn't your teacher ever tell you that snooping was a crime? As for you little miss flyer, aren't you the bold one, think you are so confident in everything you do. You could learn a thing that's all the rage called humility. As for you, miss orphan, I admire your spirit and determination, but you really should learn your limits. Do you honestly think you can rescue this Time Lord from his prison? I spent nearly a thousand years searching for him, wasting every system on board in the process; I'm not letting him go!"

"Who are you?" Celestia asked calmly. "You talk as though you know all of us, yet I've never met you before today."

"You should know who I am, Princess Celestia of Equestria." The stallion said. "I am and always have been, since that day so very long ago; I have always been called the name of all Time Lord Vessels. I am called the Tardis!"

"We met a mare who said very much the same thing to us before." Rainbow Dash said. "Only she wasn't as much of a mess as you are."

"Oh yes… **her**," He growled "little miss time traveling Tardis. **She** gave me a headache to track! Always slipping into the Time Vortex and hiding from me each time I got a lock on **her**. Even now I can't detect **her** because of all you Unicorns and your weird abilities interfering with my scanners. Of course **she** can't detect me either, but still **she** tried to get a lock on me as well. I managed to keep **her** at bay but still **she** closed in on my general location."

"Well she's certainly in better condition than you are." Twilight said.

"You try spending fifteen hundred years alone with nothing but a single Time Lord to maintain two hundred and fifty rooms spread across thirty levels." He said heatedly. "She and I did the best that we could; I was an old and outdated model to begin with when she traded for me, and she was alone in wanting to bother with my model! She did everything she could to clean me up and I was GRATEFUL for her efforts to keep me space worthy. I thanked her by remaining her faithful Tardis, and determined to do anything I could to assist her in whatever endeavor she chose to commit herself to. I should be on display in a museum right now for thousands of young Time Lords to marvel and wonder at, but no the moment The Last Great Time War happened I had no choice but to flee with my owner."

He looked at each of them in turn and stepped back next to The Doctor. "Yet here I am on a miserable ball of grass, using what little power and strength I have left in my systems to locate this monster of a Time Lord." He said, pointing at The Doctor as he levitated unconsciously in front of them. "I should be in a museum, making young Time Lords marvel and wonder as to how their past regenerated parents ever got through a day without the latest technological luxury that they have. Give me a break, do you expect centuries old and centuries outdated technology that was already centuries old to begin with to achieve wondrous progress and keep up with more modern variations that have been maintained properly over the years? Well forgive me for being OLD and SLOW, I can only make do with what I've got, and when you go over a thousand years without the proper maintenance things start to stop working right."

He looked at them with his exhausted eyes and Sparkler felt a sense of pain and loneliness inside her. "It's not my fault that I can barely travel faster than sixty kilometers per second, and it certainly isn't her fault and I have nothing but gratitude for all she has done for me. Still she asks more than what I can give, look at me I'm barely maintaining the lights alone, and those too are falling to pieces! What more can I do for her when it's taking all my energy to keep her food cultivation at maximum efficiency, as well as the water purification plant. If she could just take a month or two to perform some routine maintenance on some of my systems, then I could do so much more."

"But until he is dead, she will never stop to fix me!" He spat as he turned to look at Sparkler's father. "Ever since she first heard of him she became obsessed with him. Once my efforts and resources were devoted to maintaining everything around here and keeping things clean and healthy for her, then she discovered him and most of my energy and resources were devoted to finding him. She almost completely forgot about my status at some points, I can only maintain myself if she helps me maintain my systems! I'm not like **her**; I can't repair everything inside me with just a flip of a switch anymore. Those days are over with, and until she restores me back to decent condition then I'll waste away."

"She hasn't forgotten about you." Twilight said gently. "She's just gone slightly crazy with thoughts of revenge, that's why she keeps neglecting you."

He looked at Twilight for a moment before returning his attention to the stallion being held captive. "She hasn't heard my song for a very long time; she's completely ignored me these past few centuries." He whispered angrily. "We were once the closest of friends, not a day went by when I did not comfort her loneliness with my small song. Every day she ate with me and I sang to her loneliness through the humming in the engine room, comforted her and made her remember that I would be there each day when thoughts of suicide plagued her mind. Of course that was before he became the object of her wonder, fascination, frustration, and eventually anger. I did all I could to support her, but it just wasn't enough because I am an old and outdated model, without proper maintenance and without rest. She demanded more than I could give, what else can I do but struggle onward as I did everything in my power to find the object of her frustration?"

"Did you ever think that maybe she was like that because she let her obsession with revenge get out of control?" Celestia asked. "She spent so many nights thinking nothing but thoughts of revenge, pain and suffering she wanted to inflict on a being she only knew by rumors and second hoof facts."

"That wasn't my job to tell her what to think or what to feel." The stallion whispered. "I was only the Tardis, her means of transportation through the galaxy. She was my pilot and she directed my resources, I only had to get her to her destination and locate her target. My opinion did not matter to her in the slightest, I had endeavored to aid her in whatever she chose to set herself to, and even now I have abided by that desire. She may have forgotten about me and all we have gone through over the years, but I have not, nor will I ever forget her."

"Don't you think it's unhealthy for her to have this kind of obsession with my father?" Sparkler asked quietly. "She's injured hundreds of Pegasi in Canterlot, caused Princess Luna to worry about the condition of her sister for two days straight while trying to manage their kingdom alone. She's also threatened to kill my little sister, a two year old filly who has no idea why all of this is happening to our family. Revenge is one thing, but it's getting way out of hoof, she's gone too far!"

"You don't think I know its unhealthy little Unicorn?" The stallion said sadly. "She promised herself to leave your species alone once she got him. Yet she's created devices designed to cause immense pain to your kind little orphan, she created a tool to prevent your kind rainbow one from taking to the skies, and in one day injured and wounded hundreds of those who were innocent and had no idea she was even there. She's gone from declaring revenge against one stallion to driving herself to pursue a young life that has no concept of the horrors of the galaxy. She is clearly unhealthy at the moment; these thoughts are driving her ever deeper and ever closer to destroying herself. Everything about her species that she held dear and tried to preserve is now in danger of being lost, all because she has gone crazy with thoughts of killing this Time Lord." He looked sad for a moment but then regained his determined expression as he continued to look at Sparkler's father. "I have no desire to see her go further insane with thoughts of revenge, which is why she must finish this here and now. When she wakes up she will kill him, of that I know will happen. She and I have come too far, sacrificed and suffered too much, and waited for far too long to simply allow anything to interfere with her quest for revenge. He will pay the price for destroying his species, whether or not they deserved their fate or if their fate was inescapable does no matter, he will answer for his crimes!"

He turned to the group and Sparkler felt a sense of pride and determination course through her as she stared into the stallion's eyes. "I know what you're trying to do, and it will not work on me." He growled at them. "You will not convince me to release The Doctor from the prison I've placed him in. He stays here and that is that!"

"Well we're not leaving here without him!" Sparkler said.

"That's fine by me; you can stay here until he dies for all I care." He said. "The antigravity field is drawing most of its power from me, so unless you can gain dominance over me you will never get him free."

"I highly doubt that will be necessary." Celestia said as her horn glowed with magic. "You see while I've been held captive in this Tardis, I've learned a thing or two about technology thanks to The Doctor's toys. I've learned that yes, it defies magic and can accomplish that which even magic cannot, but even you have told us that technology can break down if not maintained."

"So what you still can't free The Doctor, to do that you must gain dominance over me and that will never happen." The stallion said. "I may be on my last limbs but I still have enough strength to keep you and any force you can bring to bear against me at bay!"

"I don't need to gain dominance over you Mr. Tardis." Celestia said warmly. "I only need to interrupt whatever powers that prison containing The Doctor. Let's see if my guess is right and if I can use my magic to keep that power source at bay for even a few seconds."

The stallion didn't look concerned as Celestia silently cast a spell, but there was a sudden twitch in his left eye that clearly indicated that it was having some kind of effect. They continued to battle for a moment before the stallion suddenly gasped and backed away from them. At the same time the lights that kept Sparkler's father levitated and restrained vanished, causing him to land heavily on the floor.

"Father!" Sparkler shouted as she ran over to him and checked his condition.

"Well what do you know Mr. Tardis… it looks like my magic can affect technology." Celestia said calmly as Twilight and Rainbow Dash helped carry the unconscious stallion over their shoulders.

The stallion however, was not impressed as he stared at them all angrily. "Big… mistake…" He whispered before a wisp of smoke appeared before them, causing them all to cough momentarily. The next time they looked, he was gone. The next red lights started blinking from every corner of the room and outsid the hallway, and a loud beeping kept sounding with each flash.

"What's that noise mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It means our time is up." Celestia said worriedly. "Let's go before we are captured by The Professor!"

With Rainbow Dash's help, Sparkler carried her father as she followed Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle out of the room and down the corridor. She had kept her promise and rescued her father, now she just had to get him out.


	13. Chapter 11 - A Toy's Duty

Chapter 11 – A Toy's Duty

=Celestia's PoV=

Celestia's had better days there was no question about that. She had never been held captive before, and that was because nopony knew that she was close friends with The Doctor. She had also never been separated from her kingdom for such a long time, not even counting that one time Daleks abducted her and tried to dissect her to understand how magic worked, of course The Doctor returned her to her ponies that time, even if they ended up having to wait for him to recalibrate whatever it was that allowed his Tardis to travel through time. She was grateful for everything that he had done for her and her kingdom, and while whenever he was around trouble followed, he always found a way to fix the damage before it escalated out of control. She liked many things about her relationship with him and his new family, however if there was one thing she had to dislike about her relationship with knowing them, namely the Father, it was that whenever he was involved, somehow in one way or another it would affect her, her sister or their kingdom.

While she knew that, with all due respect to him, this entire situation was his fault, she didn't blame him for his reputation among the advanced races of the galaxy that her subjects still had no knowledge of. It wasn't his fault that rumors of his greatness and deeds had spread, he was just doing what he felt was right, though knowledge and word of his deeds would inevitably spread. She wished that he wouldn't bring this kind of trouble to her kingdom, not that she was complaining about the situation, after all he had no idea that there was another Time Lord out there besides himself. The only plus side about her abduction was that she got to know more about technology and how it worked, and finally found a way to make her magic work against technology as well.

However she wasn't putting her faith in just her magic now, she was putting her faith in whatever The Doctor's plan was. She always knew that he had some kind of plan even when he said he didn't have one, and she had figured that The Doctor had something up his sleeve, but she had never anticipated this in his plan as she half ran down the hallway toward the staircase to the upper level. When the Doctor told her that he had a small ray of hope, that if it worked they could count on rescue, she wasn't imagining this kind of rescue party. The Elements of Harmony keepers she had expected and anticipated, but not Sparkler Hooves. Why had The Doctor sent for his daughter to rescue him and Celestia along with her student and her friends? She would have asked them these questions if they weren't trying to escape the Tardis before The Professor woke up and recaptured her and The Doctor.

With the unconscious Doctor weighing both Sparkler and Rainbow Dash down they had to move slower, with Celestia and Twilight leading the way. If they encountered The Professor before they could escape from The Tardis they would be The Doctor's, Sparkler's and Rainbow Dash's only means of defense. She hoped that The Professor was still fast asleep and would not wake up even with the loud beeping noise ringing in their ears.

"Do you remember which direction the exit was Twilight?" Celestia asked her student as the staircase came into view.

"I think so, if I remember its two levels above us." She said as Rainbow Dash and Sparkler struggled to keep up. "I remember which way we went when we started looking for you. If only I could cast my spells here I could retrace our steps or even teleport us to the exit."

"That kind of magic is still out of the question at this point." Celestia said. "I don't recommend trying to test ourselves against that being we met before. I barely defeated him the last time, another encounter will only result in our defeat and The Doctor's recapture."

"But I thought you could beat him now." Twilight asked. "You said so yourself that you don't need to gain dominance over him, you only need to interrupt him momentarily."

"Yes I did Twilight, but even that last spell I used to free The Doctor took nearly every ounce of strength and magic in me." Celestia replied as she remembered how it felt fighting that being back in The Doctor's cell. "His consciousness was greater than a hundred ponies all thinking together, and his will was mightier than any I've ever encountered before. In all honesty he was greater than I was, even in his much weakened state. He still had power and the will to resist my best efforts, and believe me when I say that I used everything I had to try and outwit him. If he had been any stronger than he was back there than I surely would have failed. If that was how strong he was at his weakest moment, I shudder to imagine how he would be at his strongest."

"How much further is it?" Rainbow Dash called out from behind them. "Not complaining or anything but Sparkler's father isn't exactly a light weight back here."

"My father is not heavy!" Sparkler said. "He just likes my mother's muffins too much!"

"The staircase is just ahead of us." Celestia called out as they neared the staircase upwards.

"Do you think that mare is looking for us now?" Twilight asked as they reached the staircase.

"Possibly, the last time I saw her she was badly injured and exhausted beyond compare." Celestia said as they waited for Rainbow Dash and Sparkler to catch up. "I'll go up first to check the corridor. Wait here for a few moments."

"Princess maybe I should go up to check." Twilight whispered to her as she started climbing to the upper level.

"If she is awake and looking for us than I will be our best chance of holding her at bay while you all escape." Celestia said. "She is purely focused on The Doctor; she has no interest in me or any of you. I can keep her busy while you flee back to Canterlot with The Doctor."

Celestia climbed the stairs before her student could speak again and looked around to find an empty corridor with red lights blinking every second, and the constant alarm sound ringing. "It's clear, let's go!" Celestia called down to Twilight and the others.

Twilight climbed up the staircase, followed by Rainbow Dash who was carrying The Doctor's front hooves while Sparkler came up last holding his rear hooves. Once they were all together Twilight led the way down the corridor with Celestia following behind her and Sparkler and Rainbow Dash again in the rear. They continued walking down the empty corridors for a few minutes before Twilight again started talking to Celestia again.

"Princess I read a journal we found in the library here, and I was wondering about something that involves these Time Lords and these Tardis's that they use." She said. "The journal I found there was written by The Professor. In it she spoke about her travels through space after the fall of her planet called Galifrey. She spoke about her Tardis as though it was alive, and we encountered a mare that felt the same as that stallion back there aboard The Doctor's Tardis. However she was way different than he was, she was much nicer and showed us around as we looked for Dinky's toy that would help us. She was also much prettier and had much more hospitality for us when we explored the rooms there, but she also told us that she was aware of everything going on outside and knew who we all were without ever even seeing us. How can that be possible?"

"I am not an expert on Time Lords or Tardis's my student, I only know what little information I do know by observing them and how they interact with each other." Celestia whispered as they peered down an empty corridor before continuing onward. "The Doctor often spoke of his Tardis as though it were alive, even when Ditzy was with him as his assistant. He told me that whenever he wanted to go somewhere in particular his Tardis would take him and Ditzy to that location, but a completely different time than what he wanted. If I recall there was one time he visited me and Luna in our bedchamber as we prepared to sleep, he was trying to go to the moon's surface with Ditzy."

She looked at Twilight with a little smirk as she recalled the embarrassing scene when he climbed out of his Tardis into their ruined room. "Not the most pleasant of visits, but Luna and I welcomed him warmly, after she nearly banished him by mistaking him to be an intruder. He promised to repair the damage done to the room, which he did, though we had to convince the guards that he was a guest, and that his Tardis was merely how he arrived. I still don't understand how he found the time to repair the damage done to our room while we had a midnight snack with him and Ditzy. When he left in his Tardis Luna and I went back to our room and found all the damage caused by the Tardis completely gone, there was even a note saying he and Ditzy apologized for how 'she' liked to mess with The Doctor."

"Do these Time Lords know that their ships, if you can call them that, are alive?" Twilight asked. "The Professor never mentioned meeting another being inside her Tardis; she kept saying that she was always alone while she finished her work on some kind of potion to extend her life. Yet in both Tardis's that we've been in, we've met two ponies that have both called themselves The Tardis. How come they never reveal themselves to these Time Lords?"

"I wouldn't know why my student." Celestia said as she imagined what kind of mare they met inside The Doctor's Tardis. "I guess they don't reveal themselves because they are so close to their owners that they would never disagree or do anything to dissuade them from pursuing their own interests. I can only imagine why they would reveal themselves to us or other beings who aren't Time Lords."

"I guess there are some secrets they will keep from us to the bitter end." Twilight whispered as they saw the next staircase leading upward.

They walked as quickly toward the staircase as they could, but stopped suddenly when they saw something that made their hearts jump. There was somepony at the top of the staircase casting a shadow down the stairs each time the red lights blinked. "What's going on down there?" A mare's voice called out. "Why are all the alarms ringing and why won't you shut up and let me sleep? For the love of Galifrey why can't I get some sleep after suffering a heart attack? This had better be good!"

The Professor was awake, and she was blocking the only way out. She couldn't see them because of the angle that the staircase was at, but if she walked down she would see Celestia and the others carrying an unconscious Doctor and trying to escape her Tardis.

"Quickly, this way!" Celestia whispered as she backed away from the staircase and walked down the nearest corridor away from the one they had come through. Just as they turned the corner and slowly crawled along the hallway they heard the sound of The Professor climb down the staircase and something clanking in the background as they heard the sound of her hooves walking along the corridor.

"I finally get an excuse to sleep since I captured The Doctor two nights ago and yet you have to wake me up?" The Professor yelled as they continued to creep away from her approach. "As if I don't have enough to deal with, now I've got to turn off the alarm system? What's malfunctioning this time?"

"Quickly in here!" Celestia whispered as they reached a door that was open.

A few moments later they entered a bare room that was completely unlit. Sparkler just crossed over into the room as The Professor's shadow just cast into the corridor they just left. Her shadow paused only for a second before continuing onward. "Honestly what is going on around here?" They heard her voice faintly complain as her hoof steps grew fainter.

Celestia held her breath and only breathed a sigh of relief once the sound of her hoof steps disappear. "Well this isn't good." She whispered as she used her horn to create a light source so they could see each other.

"Should we keep going princess?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, but give me one moment to cast a spell to hide me from view." Celestia whispered as she concentrated on the spell. "I'll go alone to check to make sure the coast is clear."

A moment later her spell took shape and she felt it weaving around her as though water trickled along her coat and mane. After a few second the spell finished and she looked around at her student and she confirmed that the spell was in place. As long as she didn't bump into The Professor she wouldn't know that Celestia was in the corridor, at least she hoped that would be the case. Once she peaked outside and checked to see if The Professor was nearby she walked out and headed back toward the corridor leading toward the staircase upwards.

She walked slowly, trying not to make a sound as her hooves kept making noise with each tentative step she took. She was also listening with all her might for the telltale shouting or breathing of The Professor as she approached. However there was no sign of her as Celestia walked back into the corridor they left and turned back toward the staircase, but there was one slight problem that she was seeing. There was no staircase in the corridor leading upward to the next level. Thinking that maybe it was further along she kept walking, looking over her shoulder for The Professor in case she was coming back, but no there was still no sign of her.

She walked further along until she was at the spot where she KNEW the staircase should have been, but still couldn't see it, at least not until she looked down and saw the outline of dust around a staircase shaped shape. Then she looked up and realized what the clanking earlier was when The Professor had walked down the staircase after the alarm rang.

"This… is not good." Celestia whispered as she saw the bottom of the staircase fitting perfectly into the ceiling of the corridor, only noticing the faint light shining through the slim gaps in the metal. She tried casting her magic on the staircase to try and lower it, but felt a huge resistance to her magic, and she knew that The Tardis was not going to let her leave so easily.

The staircase had been raised, and her magic was useless. Now Celestia, Twilight, Sparkler, Rainbow Dash, and The Doctor were all trapped inside the lower levels of the Tardis with The Professor. If she discovered them in their current state, she would annihilate them and kill The Doctor out of anger. That was also assuming if she didn't just imprison them and force Sparkler to watch as her father was murdered in the most excruciatingly painful way any of them could conceive of.

If she captured them now, there was little doubt in Celestia's mind that she wouldn't be as merciful this time around to her or her subjects as she was before.

"Well… now what do we do?" Celestia whispered as she slowly made her way back to Twilight and the others trapped inside the Tardis.

"Princess is it safe?" Twilight asked when she rejoined them.

"No I'm afraid not, we have a big problem right now." She said to them quietly. "The staircase has been raised; apparently The Professor raised it before moving onward. I can't get the staircase to lower with magic, and I have no clue as to how it was raised in the first place or how to lower it."

"So how do we get out of here?" Sparkler whispered. "It won't take that mare too long to find out that my dad isn't locked up! When she figures out what's going on she's going to look for us, how long before she finds us in this tiny dark room?"

Celestia was about to explain that no matter what happened she would do her best to save Sparkler's father, but just at that moment a loud crackling sound came from the corridor as it echoed to each room. **"Attention any quadruped on board my Tardis, this is The Professor speaking to you over the intercom from the dungeon level located near the heart of my Tardis." **The Professor's voice declared. **"You thought you could sneak into my Tardis, and rescue my prisoners without my knowing? I have to commend you for your stupidity as well as your bravery, but this was ultimately a foolish decision and pointless mission. I have no doubt that you are still on board my ship and are on one of the two lower levels; I have sealed off the staircases leading to the upper levels and all the primary rooms have been placed into lockdown status. If you thought to escape from me you have another thing coming!"**

They heard a slow but crazed laughter rising over the intercom. **"If you're listening Princess Celestia, I have to admit that I never thought you would be capable of something like this.** **Did The Doctor help you escape from the inside, or did you have outside help? Either way it does not matter to me, I am going to find you eventually. This is my ship and nothing escapes my sight here, but I will give you one chance to save your souls from my wrath! Surrender The Doctor and I will spare you and any of your ponies that are trying to help you, this is between Time Lords and I have no interest in your species."**

"**Either that or we can play a game, of cat and mouse!" **She called out sinisterly. **"I prefer you surrendering him to me, but you can make this hard and I'll gladly play your game. I warn you though, if I find you before you can get away, not that you can, I will not show you any more mercy than I have already showed your subjects!"**

"**Be warned Princess Celestia of Equestria, I am on the hunt! I will find you, and when I do, well… may whatever spells you have at your disposal help you. Hahahahahaha!" **The intercom went silent, leaving them all to know that the clock was ticking. The lower level had barely any rooms to search, which meant that eventually she would make her way to their level. They had to find a way to get the staircase to lower and at the same time avoid being captured by The Professor.

=Dinky's PoV=

Dinky sat next to Applejack and Rarity in the shade of a tree and in the cover of some bushes with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, along with her two toys Mr. TomTom and Midnight Luna watching over them. A long while ago she watched her big sister go inside the scary yellow box with Twilight and Rainbow Dash and wanted to go in with her, but she had to remain outside with her toys and the others. Now however she had a strange feeling that something bad was about to happen, and if she didn't go inside that yellow box then that bad thing would happen. She didn't understand why it felt true, but she knew it was true.

"Something's wrong Applejack." Dinky said as she and her new friends watched the yellow box from the safety of the bushes which hid them from view.

"Whatcha talking bout little Dinky?" Applejack asked Mr. TomTom flew over to land next to Dinky again before taking off and landing in the tree branches nearby. "I know it's been almost an hour since Sparkler, Twi and Rd went in there but we still gata give em some time. How ya know that somethins wrong without even being in there?"

"I just have this feeling that daddy and Sparkler are in trouble." Dinky whispered as she looked up at Applejack.

She didn't understand why she knew it was true, she just had this feeling that if she didn't go inside that yellow box then her sister and daddy and the others would be in big trouble. While she was sure that something bad would happen, she wasn't sure if the others could be convinced to go inside, or even if she could convince Applejack and the others to let her go inside.

"We have to go inside and help them!"

"Oh no little pony, I promised your big sis that I'd keep you safe'n sound." Applejack said sternly. "She and Twi want us to stay out of there, so we stay out of there."

"But we need to go and help them!" Dinky said, trying to convince Applejack to let her go inside. "I know daddy is in there, and he needs our help! Something bad will happen if we don't hurry, please."

"Now dear just because you have a bad feeling doesn't mean the worst will happen." Rarity said soothingly. "I'm sure that whatever happens Twilight, Rainbow Dash and your big sister can handle it. Let's just wait until they come out alright dearie."

"No you don't understand!" Dinky said, looking between the two of them now. "We have to go in there, I know we have to go and help them."

She just didn't understand why some older ponies wouldn't listen to her when she told them that her parents were in trouble; her big sister always listened to her when she talked to her about mom and dad being in trouble. Somehow she had to get them to believe her and let her go inside the yellow box to help her big sister.

"Now look little mare, ah know you're worried bout your folks and sister, but Sparkler told me to keep you safe'n sound out here." Applejack said. "Ah aint goin back on my word, so forget about goin in there alone. Even if we go in there with you, aint no idea what's waitin inside for us. For all we know there could be something nasty waitin to put the hurt on us. I was raised to be a tough mare, but I aint a silly mare, there aint no reason for us to go inside besides a bad felling from you. No offense or anything."

Dinky looked to her Midnight Luna toy after what Applejack said and asked for her toy to help her convince them to listen to her. **(I am not certain as to your feelings of worry and how it pertains to your knowledge of the safety of both your sister and father.) **She said to Dinky. **(However if it will put your worries at ease, I can scan the inside of the Tardis through the open door if she would permit you to approach it, thus allowing me to maintain my five feet minimum required distance with you. Mr. TomTom can create a holographic projection to disguise you once you are close enough and then I can approach the door and scan the inside. That would allow her to keep her promise and allow you to discover what is happening inside the Tardis to a certain degree.)**

"I don't know, what do ya'all think about the toy's plan?" Applejack asked.

"Well, it did spend three hours protecting little Dinky and keeping her safe while we were all out." Rarity said. "It's also been a while since Twilight, Rainbow and Sparkler went in there, I'm curious to know what's taking them. I say we at least give it a chance.

"I think Sparkler and Twilight would want us to at least give the toy a chance." Fluttershy said.

"I say give the toy a chance." Pinkie Pie chirped. "It's helped us out this far, I say full steam ahead and go super spy mode!"

"Ah hope you're right about this." Applejack whispered. "Alright but only until you can get to the door and no further, got it?"

Dinky's Midnight Luna toy nodded and stepped forward out of the bush as her Mr. TomTom flew down and landed next to her. After Dinky started walking with Applejack nearby her Luna toy walked closer toward the yellow box, until it reached the door and opened its back to allow a small silver stick to poke out. A few minutes passed until the Luna toy turned to Dinky and Applejack and started walking back toward the bushes where Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were still hiding.

"Well dearie what did you find?" Rarity asked.

"What was inside?" Dinky asked.

**(Something recent has happened inside the Tardis, all the systems that I could scan appear to have been placed on lockdown.) **The toy said to Dinky. **(I cannot gain any further details without being able to access those systems directly, however I can infer that there is something happening inside because my scans managed to pick up several active life signs, including two Time Lord Signatures that are in close proximity to each other, as well as other life signs belonging to those who went inside. There is also another signature that I cannot identify, however I can detect elements of Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony all within the same vicinity of each other as well as one of the two Time Lord Signatures.)**

"See I told you something was wrong!" Dinky said. "We need to help them before it's too late!"

"Now wait a minute little Dinky, just cause something bad happened doesn't mean they're in trouble." Applejack said.

"On the contrary dear, I think that's precisely what it means." Rarity said. "Honestly Applejack, do you think that if something bad happened in there then our friends are alright? If something happened then they might actually need our help."

"Rarity I aint goin in there with Dinky." Appleack said determinedly. "I promised Spark that I would keep her sister safe, ah aint goin back on my promise!"

**(Dinky I would also strongly advise not going in there.) **Her Midnight Luna said. **(Please listen to Miss Applejack and remain out here where it is safe, if you go in there the probability of you getting hurt increases by six hundred and fifteen percent. I can only maintain my capabilities for another six hours with my current energy charge. That also does not include if I use my filly protection tools, which will drain my energy greatly.)**

"But if we don't go in there sister and daddy will get hurt!" Dinky said desperately. "We need to help them before it's too late!" They continued to argue back and forth for a few minutes before Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy went to talk among themselves in private. Finally they came back and Applejack looked intently at Dinky and asked her how sure she was about her bad feeling. "I know it's true, we have to help them now!"

"Alright… then let's go inside that yellow box and see what we can do to help them out." Applejack said. "Pinkie and Rarity stay out here in case we need help, me Flutter and Dinky will go inside with the toys to figure out what's happenin in there."

Dinky followed Applejack with her two toys next to her and Fluttershy behind them toward the open door of the yellow box. As she approached the entryway she felt a sudden wave of fear course through her, and something told her that they weren't welcome inside the box. Still with her two toys she entered the doorway after Applejack and her Midnight Luna. Once inside she felt herself get very small, smaller than she was already because of just how big the inside was. The room was really big, it could have been as big as their house, but it wasn't warm or as nice, and of course her toys weren't there to welcome her with games and playtime before dinner. She could see four dark corridors, two on the level they were on, and the third on an upper level just slightly above them. One of them she felt that her dad and big sister were in, but she stayed close to Applejack and her toys for safety.

"Well I'll be a mule's mother." Applejack said as she and Dinky looked around the inside of the yellow box. "It's pretty big in here too, how in the name of Celestia do they do that?"

"I don't know Applejack." Fluttershy said nervously as red lights constantly flickered every few seconds.

"Where's my sister?" Dinky asked as her Luna toy walked over to a bunch of strange consoles that looked similar to the ones in her daddy's blue box.

**(I will attempt to obtain that information Dinky; I will have to interface with this Tardis's systems momentarily.) **It said as it extended a hoof into one of the small holes on the console, moments later the screen flickered to life before going black again as its eyes glowed brightly. **(Everything has been placed on lockdown, including internal scanners, and over seventy six percent of the systems on board are either inactive or not functioning properly. There is very little I can interact with and use to help us locate your sister and father Dinky; however there appears to have been recent activity in the lower levels of this vessel, as much of the internal power has been transferred to the locking mechanisms and lockdown systems. The two lower levels have been isolated and the staircases leading from those levels have been raised and locked as well, to prevent any from traveling between them or up to our level.)**

"So basically The Professor found em down there and now Twilight and the others are stuck?" Applejack said. "Looks like you were right Dinky, we needa get down there an give em a hoof!"

"How do we get down there if everything is shut down?" Fluttershy asked.

"Can you lead us down there?" Dinky asked her toy as it rejoined her along with Mr. TomTom who landed next to her.

**(If we get to the staircase leading down to the lower level, I can possibly interface and lower it to allow us access.) **Her toy said as it led the way down the darkest of the four corridors, casting two bright lights with its eyes to allow them to see clearly. **(I will lead you toward the staircase, I have downloaded a schematic of this vessel that will allow me to locate the staircase and interface to unlock it.)**

=Celestia's PoV=

"Twilight, do you remember where the library on this ship was?" Celestia asked quietly as she led the way down another darkened hallway as red lights continued to flash every few seconds.

"If I remember it's on the same level we found you at, the one above us." Twilight whispered as they moved slowly along the corridor.

"Great, which means even if she had some kind of map of this ship, it's still out of our reach." She whispered as she looked around the corner of another corridor to make sure it was clear before proceeding.

She, her student Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Sparkler, and the unconscious Doctor Hooves were slowly creeping along the dark corridors of the second lowest levels in The Professor's Tardis. Everything was completely dark ever since the alarms went off several minutes ago, with the only sources of light being the flashing red lights every few seconds. After going over every conceivable plan they could think of they left the room they had taken shelter in and began searching the dark level they were trapped on for a means to escape. Celestia had cast a spell to camouflage them from sight before leaving and had maintained the spell ever since, making sure to go ahead of them all in order to keep them hidden from sight. However this new spell she was using was quickly tiring her out.

Apparently her exhaustion was showing because Twilight asked for the fifth time since they started exploring their level, "Princess are you tired?"

"I'm a little tired my student yes." Celestia said calmly as they continued to walk slowly down this new corridor. "My magic is simply taking its toll on me that is all, but believe me I am alright. I can keep going until we find a way out."

The spells she was using had begun to take their toll, the spell she was using to keep her link with The Doctor was drawing more strength then she had expected. She knew that her stamina and energy were being transferred to him to give him strength, but she had never expected her spell to draw so much strength from her while he was unconscious. She guessed his condition was much worse off than she realized for him to be drawing more and more strength from her, though she had to tell herself that while she was provided food while in captivity as well as a decent bed, he had been suspended in midair by chains and light for hours on end as well as being tortured both physically and mentally. She knew that if she maintained the spell she would eventually tire herself out, however she still refused to end it because she felt that his life was now in her hooves.

The second spell she was using to hide them from sight was also constantly draining more strength because they didn't stay in one play for more than a few moments before continuing their search for a way to leave their floor. If they were simply staying in one room it wouldn't tax her stamina so much, but constantly having to move around into different places was tiring her almost as fast as maintaining The Doctor's lifeline.

She wished that they could have been able to leave without alerting The Professor to their rescue plan, but she never expected to encounter a being like the one she met in The Doctor's prison. He had been beyond anything she had ever known to exist, his mind was beyond alien and beyond all knowledge, he felt as though he had been to every place her planet had to offer, had seen its beginning and beyond its end, was both younger then the youngest foal and older than she, her sister, The Doctor, and every pony's ages combined. She realized that she should consider herself lucky that her first interaction was short as well as victorious; if she had to repeat the battle she figured he would have had the upper hoof.

"How is your father holding up Sparkler?" She asked quietly as they approached a door that was open.

"He's still not awake." Sparkler said as she looked at her father even as she and Rainbow Dash carried him over their shoulders. "What did she do to him Princess, he looks famished and his coat and mane feel like they've been hit by lightning."

"I wish I could tell you, some of his sessions I was probably unconscious for, but the one I was awake for was excruciatingly painful." She said as she lead the way into the room to check inside it for anything that could help them, as well as to rest and give them all a moment to catch their breaths, especially herself. "The first session was pain beyond anything I ever imagined or felt, my skin felt like it was being melted as it was pierced by searing hot and razor sharp knives. It's not an experience I wish to relive again let me tell you."

The room was empty except for a couple of cleaning tools, including several wash rags, a couple of mops and brooms, and a faucet dripping water into a partially full bucket. Once they were all inside she closed the door and used her magic to create a tiny light source so they could see each other. She looked into the worried but reassured eyes of her faithful student Twilight Sparkle and saw how worried she was about their situation. She then looked at Rainbow Dash as she stood watch near the door with her ear to it, and knew that she was trying to be as strong as she could, even though it was clear that she was well outside of her normal element, being trapped aboard an alien vessel and unable to do anything more than run and hide. She then looked at Sparkler Hooves as she took one of the washrags and rinsed it out before putting it on her father's forehead. She knew that Sparkler probably was curious about what her father was really like, but for the moment he was still the toy making stallion she called her father, and she was doing everything she could to take care of him with the limited resources available to her.

"So why did we take cover inside of a janitor's room?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently as she took a chance to peak outside into the corridor. "I mean why are we waiting here? If we don't keep moving that Time Lord mare is going to catch us!"

"Yea princess, why did we come in here?" Twilight asked. "Shouldn't we keep moving? It is safer to be on the move then to sit in one place when she might be looking for us and getting closer as we speak?"

"I wish I could keep going my student, but I need to rest for a few minutes before we continue." Celestia said quietly as she took several deep but very much needed breaths. "I'm exhausted, these spells are draining my strength much more then you realize they are. Not only am I concealing us with my magic I'm also channeling my strength into The Doctor to keep his stamina up. In his current condition it's clear that if I weren't still magically linked to him he might now even be dead. I'm more then tired Twilight; I'm surprised that I'm still breathing normally, let alone able to maintain these spells for as long as I have without passing out."

"If you want I could use my magic to hide us from view." Twilight offered.

"That's very kind of you to offer, but the spell is too complex and takes much focus and strength to keep it active to the degree that I am making it. The spell is not only hiding us from view but also our Time Energy Signatures that Sparkler's father showed me. Time Lords can still see those golden strings even if the being is hidden from normal sight. Although if I must speak honestly, this is the first and so far only time I've ever tried to hide so many ponies and their Time Energy Signatures with such a complicated spell, after all how can I hide something from view when it is already hidden from my sight to begin with?"

"Well when you put it that way." Twilight whispered when Rainbow Dash shushed at them to make them all be quiet.

"Somepony's coming!" She whispered as she took the door and closed it very slowly to prevent it from making a noise.

They all inched away from the door and gathered around Sparkler and her father as they heard the sound of a set of hooves drawing closer to their room. Eventually they heard the sound of The Professor's voice in the corridor.

"Oh come out come out wherever you are Celestia." She taunted as she drew closer to their door. "You don't honestly thing you can hide from me can you? This is my Tardis, nothing will escape me here."

She paused in her taunting and a shadow passed over the door to their room.

"Let's see, eeny meeny miney mo, catch a pony by the hoof, if it screams then let it go… to torture it and lay it low… eeny…meeny… miney… MO!" She yelled suddenly as she opened the door and looked around inside.

Celestia held her breath as she stared right at them, wondering if her spell was working and all of their time strands were concealed. Seconds passed as she looked at them for a moment, and to Celestia those seconds felt like years as her eyes refused to blink or look away from her. The silence was so overpowering that she feared The Professor would hear her breathing and also would hear Twilight's, Sparkler's, and Rainbow Dash's heartbeats._**-Please don't have sharp ears, please don't have sharp hearing as well as everything else you have, please oh please do not have sharp heaing.- **_Celestia thought as she watched The Professor look over them one last time and then walk over to the dripping faucet that Sparkler had neglected to shut off and turned the valve to shut it off. "Either they were in here or I forgot to turn off the water for several decades." She whispered as she turned and walked back out and closed the door again. "Wouldn't surprise me if it was my fault, I always forget to shut off the water on this level."

As she walked along the Corridor she continued to taunt and call out to them, "Still hiding from me are you?" she yelled out in the corridor as she started walking away. "You can't hide forever, even if every one of these rooms are empty to me there is no way you could have left that fast. I know that you are down here; it's only a matter of time before I find you!"

They waited until they were sure that The Professor was really gone before they breathed a sigh of relief. On the one hoof she was glad that her spell had proved itself to have been worth the effort to create because it hid them from her sight, but on the other hoof The Professor had almost caught them. If her spell had been even a LITTLE bit ineffective then they would probably all be dead that very moment. She was highly bothered by the way she was looking around for them; it was as though she had **known** they were in there, or at least had been there recently. Another thing that was bothering her was how The Professor was treating her search for them, it almost sounded like a game to her.

"Well we really slipped past that encounter." Clestia whispered as she stood up and took another very deep breath. "We need to move, if we stay here she might reconsider her thought concerning the faucet. We also have to find some way off this level and back upstairs to escape this dreaded prison."

Once Rainbow Dash and Sparkler started carrying The Doctor they started to continue their search on the level for some way to lower the staircase, but every room that was unlocked yielded nothing more than empty dark and dirty rooms. Every other room they came across yielded nothing better either because they were all locked down and nothing they did could get them open. Celestia asked her student Twilight to forgo attempting to use magic to open the doors in case it alerted The Professor to their location, just in case she was using some kind of scanning equipment to locate sources of magic. Deprived of any magical means to open the door they had to try and open the doors manually, because the doors wouldn't open to the tapping method due to the lockdown. It slowed them down greatly, and every second they tried to open the door meant that they were staying still while The Professor was probably around the corner or just out of sight and hearing range. Each moment Celestia expected The Professor to turn the corridors suddenly and surprise them, but each time they approached a fork or some new series of doorways there was no sign of her, but she wasn't placing any bet on luck to be in their favor for much longer.

After nearly fifteen minutes of trying to search their floor Celestia started feeling a strange sensation coursing through her body. It felt like something familiar was getting closer, something she had never felt before but at the same time was extremely familiar was drawing closer to her. She looked over her shoulder to look behind The Doctor to see if somepony was trying to sneak up on them, but she only saw a long and empty corridor as the red lights flashed every few seconds. She tried to shake the feeling off, but with each moment that passed the sensation grew stronger, and she swore she felt worry gnawing at her insides, driving her to grow more fearful with each second that ticked away.

"That's it, no more trying to open doors." Celestia said as the sensation became so strong now that she felt a new wave of worry wash over her. "Let's keep going, we'll only check open doors from here on out!"

"Princess why the sudden…" Twilight started saying but Celestia ignored her and proceeded to move faster.

A few minutes later Celestia felt a new sensation, familiarity and a strange sense of recognition. She didn't understand what was happening or where these strange feelings were coming from, but at the moment she didn't care, whatever was looking for her was drawing closer and closer, and now it was moving faster as it felt this familiar feeling.

"Princess slow down, Sparkler and Rainbow Dash can't keep up." Twilight whispered as she forced her to slow down for a painfully slow moving group of ponies trying to pick up the pace without causing The Doctor any more injuries then he has already suffered.

"Here put him on my back!" Celestia ordered as she bent down so Sparkler and Rainbow Dash could put him on her back.

"No Princess we can hold him, we just need to pick up the pace that's all." Sparkler said as she strained her shoulders to carry more of his weight off her hooves. "There's no need for you to…"

"This is no time for modesty Sparkler Hooves." Celestia said in her Royal Canterlot voice, though refraining from using the traditional volume. "Put your father on our back this instant, that is an order!"

Sparkler nodded and with Rainbow Dash's help they put The Doctor on Celestia's back so that she could carry him on her own. With the Doctor's weight on her back she pushed her hooves harder to pick up the pace as she started slow running down the corridor away from the sensation. She knew that it was behind him, how she knew that she didn't know, but whatever was down here suddenly started feeling a sense of urgency. As though it sensed her rapid pace and was trying to catch up to her as quickly as possible.

"Faster you three!" Celestia whispered as she started to almost run at fast pace, but making sure to keep The Doctor from falling off.

"Princess why are we running?" Twilight asked as they kept pace with her.

"Something is coming, I don't know what it is but I know that something is getting closer!" She said as she looked back over her shoulder but still saw nothing behind them. "It's behind us but I can't see it, all I know is that something is getting closer and I don't want to be around here if and when it catches up to us."

They continued to race away from the source of the strange sensation but still there was no sign of whatever it was that was chasing them, however the sensation grew even stronger and she could swear she felt something racing faster and it realized that it was right on top of them. She looked over her shoulder and her heart rate quickened at the sight of a still empty corridor. She looked forward again and saw an open door.

"In here!" She said as she used her magic to open the door and ran in with the Doctor still on her back; moments later she was joined by Twilight, Sparkler, and finally Rainbow Dash before she closed the door and heard the mechanical clicking of the door locking itself. Once they were inside Celestia looked around and saw that the room she had taken shelter in looked to be some kind of storage room containing several large barrels full of liquids that smelled funny as well as dozens of boxes, but she wasn't interested in finding out their contents, she was only concerned with how whatever it is chasing her was very close now. It was so close that she knew it was outside their room right now. "It's right outside, I know it is right outside and it knows we're in here."

"How do you know whatever it is that's chasing us is out there?" Rainbow Dash said worriedly.

"I just know that there is something out there looking for us, and it is right outside the door." She said nervously.

"Everyone to the back of the room, we can use the barrels as well as Princess Celestia's magic to hide us." Twilight said.

Everyone started backing away from the door as far as they could, then Twilight used her magic to make a small barricade with the barrels to give them some shelter to hide them from view. It took them a little under one minute to get everything ready, but they were still barely in time before the door opened. Celestia glimpsed the door just before she took cover and saw nothing in the doorway. Seconds passed and they waited for somepony, perhaps The Professor, to enter and start looking around for them, but still nothing happened.

"What are they waiting for?" Twilight whispered so quietly that they had to strain their ears to hear her.

"I don't know." Celestia said just a quietly. "Maybe they're trying to get us to move."

They waited for several seconds before the door closed, but still Celestia refused to speak any louder. Whatever had been following her before was still in the room, of that she was certain, and if it was determined to wait for her to move out of their hiding spot then she was determined not to play into its hooves.

"Are they gone?" Sparkler whispered.

"No, they're still there." Celestia replied.

"Should one of us check to see who it is?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Let me check." Twilight whispered as she took the chance and slowly looked over the top of the barrels. "There's nopony there."

"Check the floor Twilight; she's used toys to do her dirty work before." Sparkler said quietly.

"Nope nothing, there's nothing there."

Celestia took the chance and glanced over the top of the barrels for herself. Sure enough, the room and doorway were empty except for them, but that still didn't put her at ease. She was one hundred percent sure that there was somepony inside the room with them, and they knew she was there.

**(Normal visual scan is inconclusive, commencing alternative visual scanning method.) **A mechanical voice declared which sounded strangely like her sister's voice.

A moment later a thin beam of blue light appeared and extended from the top to the bottom of the room and swept over them from the left to the right. However it seemed to not do or see anything because the light changed from blue to red and swept the room again from right to left and yet again seemed to do nothing because once it reached the left side of the room it changed from red to yellow. This time when it swept over them it blinded Celestia temporarily before the light vanished.

**(Scans complete, the area is secured and devoid of any dangerous individuals Dinky.) **The strange voice said again. **(The room is safe for pony interaction, deactivating holographic projections and noise cancelation signal.)**

"I know that voice!" Sparkler said as she looked over the barrels as well.

"Sister?" A filly's voice called out excitedly.

"I know that voice alright." Came the familiar voice of Applejack, and seconds later it was as though Celestia had been blind one second and blinked and could see everything. In the doorway was Applejack, Fluttershy and between them The Doctor's firstborn filly, Dinky Doo Hooves. Floating above them and circling Dinky in small circles was a Flyby Bird toy painted rainbow colors, with The Doctor's cutie mark imprinted on it's under wing.

"Applejack, Fluttershy, Dinky Hooves?" Celestia said as she stopped her spell from disguising them so that they could see them. "What are you all doing here?"

"Sister!" Dinky called out happily as she ran to her sister and was pulled into a tight hug.

"Dinky what are you doing here?" Sparkler said exhaustedly, though still smiling gently as she looked at her little sister. "How in Equestria did you find us?"

"Little Dinky was worried bout ya'll." Applejack said as she smiled at Twilight and Rainbow Dash. "So we decided to check around see if ya needed help, turns out ya did. The staircase was locked down accordin to the toy, but it did something that made the staircase unlock so we could get down here. Then it was all Dinky's doin, she kept saying she knew where her daddy was so she led the way, in all honesty I don't get how she found ya'll so quickly."

"Dinky was looking for her father?" Celestia whispered as she used her magic to place The Doctor back on the floor so that a very worried Dinky and Sparkler could reunite, indirectly, with each other after so long being separated from him. It took her a few moments before she realized how the small filly was able to find her so easily. "Of course, why didn't I understand it before? The Doctor's connection with his filly, she reestablished their Time Energy Strand when we pulled her father out of that prison. That's how she was able to find him, because she could sense where he was, and that's what I was sensing all this time. It was Dinky I was feeling, I'm still connected to The Doctor because of my spell and I can sense what he senses and see what he sees."

"So you're saying that the somepony we were running from all this time was really Dinky?" Twilight asked her. "Then how come we didn't see them or hear them before?"

"Dinky's toy was keeping us hidden." Fluttershy said. "It told Dinky that it was hiding us with something called a holographic image system, and kept our voices and hoofsteps quiet with something called a noise canceling system. It also made sure we didn't get lost because it had a built in map of the whole Tardis it downloaded from its systems earlier."

Celestia only realized what she was talking about when she saw a small toy standing on the ground behind Fluttershy and Applejack. It was almost the same size as a WalkNTalk Celestia Toy, but it was slightly smaller, had a dark blue mane and light blue eyes. It was also unpainted, had two slots where, if it were a WalkNTalk Celestia toy, its wings should have been but were missing. It was also missing a leg because one of the legs seems to have come from a WalkNTalk Celestia toy and didn't seem to fit properly. Al the time they were talking it was watching them all intently but mostly it was making sure to watch Dinky and keep her in its eyesight.

"I'm guessing you're the Luna toy which Sparkler spoke of earlier?" Celestia asked the toy, however it merely tilted its head as she spoke to it.

"The toy don't talk unless it's little Dinky or the Doc." Applejack said.

"I see, well in any case we owe this toy many a thanks." Celestia said.

"Ya can say that again princess, this little toy's ten miracles all wrapped up in one tiny little package."

"As much as I enjoy the reunion, is there any way we can save it for after we've gotten outside?" Rainbow Dash said.

Once they had decided on who would carry the unconscious Doctor over their shoulders, they all left the room and followed Dinky as she followed her Luna toy in the corridor. Celestia figured that after all the wandering and searching as well as trying to avoid The Professor that they would have had a long walk back to the staircase leading upward. Instead the Luna toy took the lead and one minute later, they were two feet away from the staircase on the other side of where Celestia's group had come from.

"We were right next to it all this time?" Twilight asked incredibly.

The toy continued walking but suddenly stopped and looked at the walls as though something was wrong, then it opened its back and extended a single thin metal rod to poke into the air. "What's wrong?" Dinky asked quietly as she looked at the walls her toy had stared at.

It was as the toy explained the situation that Celestia couldn't help but marvel at the wondrous creation that The Doctor had created for his filly. **(Unusually high electrical activity detected surrounding the staircase.) **The toy said in a perfect mechanical imitation of Luna's voice. **(There may be a high probability of risking harm to you and all the others here. I will proceed forward alone to check and scan for the source and reason behind the activity.)**

"Okay, be careful alright?" Dinky said as her Flyby bird toy landed next to Dinky and they all watched the Luna toy walk toward the staircase alone.

It took four steps toward the staircase and without warning a huge net made of light burst from the walls on either side and wrapped around the toy before any of them even had a chance to blink. The electrical light, for it was indeed electricity, violently sent out sparks as it held the toy in place, but it was doing much more damage to the poor toy trapped inside. The toy's wooden body was being scarred and singed black with each spark that touched it, its light blue eyes blinked different colors rapidly, its voice screamed in agony and even its fake mane had caught on fire.

**(SYSTEM OVERLOAAAAAD)** It screamed. **(SYSTEM OVERLOAD SYSTEM OVERLOAD SYSTEM OVERLOOOOOOOOOAD)**

"Do something!" Dinky screamed as she watched her toy helplessly while being held back by Twilight and Applejack to prevent her from being hurt by the electrical net.

Celestia looked at the walls and saw two lights on either side glowing and casting a tiny beam of light at where the Luna toy was trapped. Thinking fast she cast a spell and caused the sources of light to break and shut off, instantly causing the electrical net to vanish and drop a smoking Luna toy helplessly to the floor with a thud. Once they knew it was safe Twilight and Applejack allowed Dinky to run and pick up her toy.

"Say something, are you alright?" Dinky asked tearfully.

Her toys eye's returned to normal and it slowly turned its head to look at her. **(I am commencing a scan of my internal and external parts to answer that question now.) **It told her softly **(My exoskeleton body suffered only minor damage to the main body and legs; however my mane appears to have been burned away. My internal systems suffered more serious damage however; I have lost the ability to use some of my few functioning and installed filly protection tools. This includes my force field generators, my holographic projectors, and my noise cancelation program. I can continue functioning normally as a toy, but this does mean that my capabilities are extremely limited as the prototype of your father's WalkNTalk Luna toy series.)**

Dinky looked like she was going to say something but the Luna toy turned its head back down the corridor they were in and extended the metal rod again. **(I am detecting a Time Lord Energy Signature moving rapidly in this direction, I recommend extreme caution and also suggest we proceed to leave.**

"It's The Professor, she knows where we are!" Celestia called out and ran up the stairs with the others following her example and racing up the staircase, Sparkler and Rainbow Dash were slower climbing up the stairs due to having to be careful with The Doctor but they too managed to get up quickly.

After that Celestia didn't need Dinky's toy to guide them any further to the exit, she could clearly see it because she saw the open doorway down the corridor, and in a few minutes left the cruel cramped and aged structure of The Professor's Tardis, and into the wonderful moonlit, if slightly cool night of the Everfree Forest. She breathed deeply the fresh, clean, and free air of her kingdom once again and felt herself float with joy as she felt the wonderful soil beneath her hooves.

"I thought I would never smell this wonderful air ever again." Celestia said as the others exited the Tardis behind her, which looked like a yellow box on its side.

"Princess!" Came the surprised cry of Rarity, who at the sight of seeing Celestia come out of the Tardis, left the safety and cover of the underbrush with Pinkie Pie. "Oh thank goodness you're all safe, it's been almost two hours since you went in there Twilight."

"Didja find the Doc?" Pinkie chirped.

"No time to talk you two, The Professor is right behind us and we have to lose her fast!" Twilight said. "Princess only you know that spell to disguise us and hide us from The Professor, can you cast it again and hide us so we can get away?"

"No my student, there are too many of us for me to hide and the forest is too diverse for my magic to work." Celestia said quickly. "But I have another idea, running is out of the question with The Doctor unconscious, so the only option is for us to take to the sky and fly back to Canterlot, everyone get ready it will only take me a few seconds for my spell to work."

"Wait, not Canterlot!" Sparkler shouted suddenly. "We can't just go back to Canterlot yet, my father's Tardis is still out here. What if she finds it and tries to get inside it? If she can do all this with that hunk of junk of a ship, imagine what she could do with my father's ship and all it has inside!"

"You're father's Tardis is here?" Celestia said, rethinking her plan as she prepared her magic. "In that case we have to get to it, there's no safer place in ALL of Gaia. You're also right that we can't allow that mare to get her hooves on The Doctor's Tardis. Everyone get ready my spell is almost finished."

Seconds later she cast her spell and large, beautiful butterfly wings appeared on all of them with exception to Dinky, The Doctor, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "I remember these." Rarity said cheerfully.

"Yes, now everyone take to the air." Celestia called out. "My magic will sustain us for about twenty minutes; I'll levitate The Doctor as we fly while Fluttershy carries Dinky."

Seconds later they all took to the air with Celestia using her magic to levitate The Doctor while Fluttershy carried Dinky and her Luna toy, her Flyby Birdy toy easily kept pace in the sky. Just as they took to the air a scream of rage came from below and they looked down to see a furious Professor look up at them and watch them fly away before dashing back into her Tardis. Celestia doubted that she was giving up, and wanted to push them all faster but they had to go slow because she was at her limits magic wise. She just couldn't keep casting such taxing spells without exhausting herself.

"Which way to the Tardis?" Sparkler called out nervously as she followed behind Twilight and Applejack in the air.

"I can't remember." Twilight said. "We moved around so much that I don't know where we left it!"

"Well ya better start rememberin Twi!" Applejack called out as she pointed behind them all at th source of a very loud roaring sound getting closer.

Celestia looked back and saw The Professor strapped to her flying machine and gaining on them rapidly because of they had to move slower. She was glaring at them with such fury in her eyes that Celestia felt her altitude drop slightly and almost dropped The Doctor as well. She also saw several new items strapped to the top of the flying machine, something long white and tipped red. It almost looked like something she had seen in a diagram aboard The Professor's pictures of strange weapons. If she remembered it appropriately it looked like something she had labeled as a missile. She also remembered the description telling the explosive yield such weapons, though The Professor had described them as outdated wall furniture, were capable of.

"Oh no…" She said quietly.

"What's wrong Celestia?" Rainbow Dash called out.

"That's several missiles she's armed her flying machine with." Celestia called out fearfully, knowing that hers, Twilight's, and Rarity's magic were completely worthless against such overwhelming power. "She doesn't care about capturing us anymore; she wants to completely obliterate us."

"She can't do that; she'll hurt my big sister and daddy!" Dinky called out.

"Ah don't think we needa worry about that happenin if she gets any closer!" Applejack called out.

**(Dinky I have a plan!)** The Luna toy declared suddenly. **(Give me to Rainbow Dash immediately.)**

Rainbow Dash flew over to Applejack and Dinky handed her the toy. "Be careful with her okay?" Dinky said and they all watched Rainbow Dash take the toy and fly back toward The Professor, even as she flew toward them at top speed.

=Midnight Luna's Perspective=

**(Dinky I have a plan!)** She declared. **(Give me to Rainbow Dash immediately.)**

Everything was simple, everything was clear, even if most of her filly protection systems were useless she knew her duty. He creator had programmed her with three basic rules and three simple laws that all his toys that he created for Dinky must obey and should remember above everything. The first law, do what you can to keep Dinky happy. The second law was to ensure that they did not take any action to bring Dinky to harm. The third and most important law of all, keep Dinky safe at any and all costs, as long as nopony is harmed because of their actions. The choice was simple, and so obvious that it made perfect sense.

That is why she, Midnight Luna, toy to Dinky Doo Hooves, could not tell her what she was planning to do as she handed her to Rainbow Dash.

"Be careful with her okay?" Dinky said.

Dinky did love her; she really did care about an incomplete toy like her, which was why she knew that if she had described the plan in detail before carrying it out then Dinky would never have let her go. But it must be this way; it was her duty as Toy to Dinky Doo Hooves to carry out her maker's wish to keep Dinky safe.

Once they were out of earshot of Dink Luna turned to Rainbow Dash and tricked her own programing into thinking she was Dinky so that she could speak her plan to her.** (Rainbow Dash in approximately thirty nine seconds let go of me as you pass over The Professor's jetpack.) **She said. **(Once you do you must return to the others, and under no circumstances come back for me. Mr. TomTom will be able to guide you back to the Tardis, and because the systems are unlocked you will be able to go back to Canterlot by yourselves.)**

"What are you saying; you're not coming back with us?" Rainbow Dash said.

**(Do not come back for me.) **She repeated, and Rainbow Dash slowly nodded in understanding, knowing what her plan was.

Fifteen seconds later Rainbow Dash flew over The Professor's machine and dropped Midnight Luna onto the metallic surface of the jetpack. She used her three legs to keep her footing and keep herself from flying off, however her fourth foot couldn't keep to the surface and was completely useless. Still she managed to, step by step; force herself to move closer to the section of the jetpack which was responsible for fueling the propulsion unit.

"Get off you piece of wood and wires!" The Professor shouted as she started twisting the jetpack side by side, trying to shake her off. "Get… off… of… my… jetpack!"

**(I am WalkNTalk Luna Prototype Number 00001-a-01, designated Midnight Luna!) **She stated as she reached her goal and released her temporary leg so that she could connect the wires there to a small outlet which granted her control of the fuel transferring systems. **(You are threatening my filly and are therefore considered a maximum level threat to not only her but all ponies within her vicinity. I gave you four warnings, this is the fifth and final time I will tell you this. YOU WILL NOT HARM MY FILLY!)**

The Professor watched her connect a wire and sudden comprehension dawned on her face. "Don't you dare…"

She changed the flow of fuel and shifted a different mixture into the engine, causing it to overload and emit a dark and deadly smoke. This cause the jetpack to lose its balance and shift so rapidly that the engine exploded because of the imbalanced fuel mixture. Seconds later The Professor pushed a switch and ejected out of the jetpack, leaving the jetpack to spin wildly out of control toward Dinky and her friends, as well as her older sister and father.

Midnight Luna connected herself to the controls and used what little control the jetpack had to divert its path and force it to the ground. She spun past the group and used the last seconds she had to look at Dinky, zooming in on her terrified expression as she watched the Jetpack with her toy fly to its final destination. The ground itself and a very explosive conclusion because of the missiles strapped to it.

**(Dinky… may you be happy without me…) **She stated in a voice that could not be heard due to the engine whining. **(My maker… I have fulfilled my duty as her toy, even though you never completed me.)**

She watched Dinky spin out of her sight and one second later, saw the ground zoom up to fill her vision and saw tree branches fly past her, before everything was covered in red, orange, and an overwhelmingly high temperature count, before her systems blacked out.

=Sparkler's PoV=

Sparkler saw it all happen, but still could not believe that it had happened.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Dinky cried as they all watched one of The Professor's flying machine's engines explode suddenly and saw her eject from it, leaving Dinky's Luna toy stranded aboard it.

"Keep going!" Rainbow Dash yelled as they jetpack spun wildly toward them before veering to the left and slamming into the ground. A huge explosion rocked the ground, trees were blown back because of the force, the air seemed to vibrate, and they all felt a shock wave wash over them.

"We have to go back; my toy is still back there!" Dinky cried as she tried to get herself loose from Applejack's grip.

"No, the toy told us to keep going without it." Rainbow Dash yelled out as Mr. TomTom flew out in front of them. "Mr. TomTom will lead us back to your father's Tardis Sparkler."

"But my toy!" Dinky cried as she tried desperately to get a view of the site where a huge dark pillar of smoke was rising. "We can't leave Midnight Luna behind, she's the only one dad ever made!"

"Can we risk going back for the toy?" Celestia called out.

"No the toy told me to tell you all to not go back for it no matter what!" Rainbow Dash said sadly as she looked at them all. "It wanted to keep us all safe, so it sacrificed itself to save us all and give us this chance to get away. Let's not let its sacrifice be in vain."

"No… not my Midnight Luna, I have to go back for it!" Dinky screamed as she wiggled furiously to get free, but they continued onward with Mr. TomTom flying ahead of them all.

Three minutes later, and after many sobs from Dinky, Sparkler spotted her family's tree among all the other trees of the Everfree Forest, and knew that they had reached the safest place in anywhere. However that did not change Sparkler's attitude or stop her from feeling sorry as they landed and all their wings vanished just as her father's Tardis changed from a tree to a blue box.

She knew that, of all the ponies that were leaving the Everfree Forest and their rescue mission to The Professor's Tardis, there should have been a total of ten ponies, and two toys walking into the Tardis as its door opened for them. However there were ten ponies and only one toy, and that was why she felt such a heavy weight on her heart.


	14. Chapter 12 - Reunion and Planning

Chapter 12 – Reunion and Planning

=Luna's Pov, Three hours after Sunset=

_**-My lady perhaps you should go to bed.- **_Owl said to Luna in her mind as she took another report from a stack of papers and other reports from hospitals. _**–You have been working nonstop since the morning of your sister's fillynapping. You need your rest.-**_

"We can go a full two days without sleep Owl, despite what thou may think." Luna said out loud as she read a report from the Head Doctor from Canterlot Clinic for filly's foals and young adults. "Until our sister returns we shall continue our duties and hers as though nothing were wrong, she is depending on us to keep the kingdom running as normally as we possibly can."

_**-That may be my lady, but you must admit that even you need rest every now and then.- **_Hawk replied to her. _**–It is just my opinion that you would probably do better work if you were more rested then you are now.-**_

"Why would thou think that?" Luna said as she finished reading the report and put it back on a pile of papers.

_**-Because with all due respect my lady, that is the fourth time you've put that report you finished reading in the pile of reports you have yet to read…-**_

Luna checked the pile and sure enough, saw that she had indeed put the paper in the pile of reports that she had yet to check and g over. She felt embarrassed at that and put the paper in the small pile of reports that she had read. Her eyes were starting to itch after nearly a second full day without a full night's sleep. However she still had to do her duties, at least until she heard from the Elements of Harmony bearers. She was still the co-ruler of Equestria, and she had to handle the affairs of her kingdom. She rubbed her eyes slightly and read the next report from another clinic.

"Thank you Hawk, but we can still continue performing our duties." She said, determined to show no signs of weariness to her guards. "Everypony is now counting on me to perform the duties my sister would normally carry, and until she returns her duties are mine now."

_**-Then perhaps it's a good thing that your labors will shortly be at an end my lady.- **_Owl said excitedly as he tried to get her attention. _**–The blue box that left earlier seems to be arriving in the castle gardens!-**_

Instantly Luna's weariness was forgotten and she practically flew from the throne room and down the corridor toward the nearest balcony overlooking the gardens down below, her sister's guards raced to keep up with her as she ran past them without giving them even a moment's notice. There she heard the vwroop sound of The Doctor's Tardis arriving from whatever destination it had come from. She watched it materializing in the center of the gardens below, saw the blue box and the Police Public Callbox adorning the top of it.

"They're back!" Luna called out excitedly as she took to the air and flew down toward the garden, leaving the Unicorn and Earth guards behind while the Pegasus guards raced to keep up with her. She landed heavily in front of the blue box and watched the door open slightly before being flung open.

"Finally back!" Twilight called out as she stumbled out of the Tardis, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie following behind her.

"Howdy Princess Luna, sorry we're late." Applejack said to her. "Sorry we took so long, but we hada stop for a couple of stragglers!"

Luna looked and watched as her sister Celestia walked out of the Tardis, a might messier then when she last remembered, but still without a scratch. "Hello sister." She said happily as Luna squealed and galloped to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I missed you as well Luna, but please we can't dwell on such reunions for long."

Luna pulled away and saw Dinky leave the Tardis carrying her Flyby Bird toy Mr. TomTom, she looked very unhappy and her eyes were slightly bloodshot. Behind her was Sparkler who was carrying her father, a very unhealthy looking Doctor, with both her magic and her hooves. He wasn't conscious, his mane was a complete mess, his coat was less than impressive, and he looked as though he had been starved for days with no exercise.

"Thank goodness you all made it." Luna said as she watched Sparkler walk by, but none of them were cheerful at those words. "What's the matter, did something happen?"

"Yes sister. None of them were harmed in the rescue mission to The Professor's Tardis." Celestia said sadly as she looked at Dinky, who was still extremely sad as she clutched her toy. "However our escape came at a very heavy price, especially for little Dinky, her toy, which bore your likeness, was lost in the final moments. Just as The Professor was closing in on us Dinky's toy chose to sacrifice itself to save all of us from her wrath. It landed on her flying machine and crashed it before she could harm us, but in exchange for giving us the chance to flee it sacrificed itself and crashed with the flying machine. The explosion was massive, and despite my wish to go back and search to see if it survived, the toy told us to not go back for it and keep going."

"I only knew the toy for maybe ten whole minutes, but it was determined to keep us all safe, especially Dinky. It showed its determination to protect us by never allowing us to come to harm, it lead us along the safest path and even when we neared safety, it chose to risk itself to keep us from going anywhere dangerous. In its final moments it made the ultimate sacrifice, and destroyed itself to keep Dinky and all of us from coming to harm." She said as several of Celestia's guards rushed from the castle doorway toward their group. "I know the toy was never truly alive, but we all severely mourn the loss of the toy. My student informed me of what the toy did for all of them in its short life over the course of one day. Such a small toy did so much for them all Luna; it makes me feel like I was useless."

"Celestia you're not useless!" Luna said, surprised at the words her sister was using. "You've done so much for everypony here, and we all know of your accomplishments."

"I did not narrow my search for The Doctor to a single area of Equestria, and I did not send out over a hundred and twenty five toy birds and search for The Doctor through each and every one of their eyes." Celestia said sadly. "Did I do that? Did I not only send out all those toys and once I located where he was but also use every tool at my disposal to unlock the one thing that could take them to The Doctor, his very Tardis? Did I use every remaining toy bird to keep seven mares and a filly from coming to harm even as The Professor threatened them, destroying each and every toy that stood in her path? Did I stand my ground even as the last of Dinky's protection was crushed before her very eyes and spend three hours keeping her hidden and tried to keep her warm as night fell, waiting for her sister to find us and risk running out of energy just to fulfill some program? No I did not Luna; I did none of those things."

Luna looked into her sister's eyes and saw a small fire burning in them that she had never seen before. "All I did Luna, was sit in a room and endure pain and suffering that The Doctor was more than willing and well more than capable of enduring alone. Even during the times I was out of my cell, all I could do then was watch and observe, and get knocked unconscious for hours at a time. Even when I finally broke through to that mare's cold and burning heart, I could not convince her to leave Dinky alone and forget her quest to kill The Doctor and his filly, all I could do was watch helplessly as she prepared her tools to hunt down a small young and oblivious filly. You tell me Luna who did more in one day for one of our kingdom's subjects, Princess Celestia ruler of Equestria who commands the very sun itself and has ruled Equestria for over a thousand years, or an incomplete Toy Luna missing most of its internal parts while using another toy's leg to get around?"

Luna would have replied but at the moment Celestia's guards finally joined them and she began to issue instructions to her many guards who had welcomed her back to her kingdom.

"Summon the best healer we have in Canterlot, wake them if you must but bring them to the palace immediately." She said to one of her Pegasus Guards. "If they ask tell them Princess Celestia requires their immediate services and that it is an emergency."

The guard nodded and immediately took off into the night to carry out her orders, however no sooner had he left then she turned to a pair of her Earth guards and issue them orders as well. "You two will carry The Doctor and take him up to one of the guest rooms and guard the room, absolutely nopony who does not have my permission is permitted to see him." She said sternly. "Only his two daughters Sparkler and Dinky Hooves are allowed to be with him. When the healer arrives you will only permit him entrance if Luna is present, if you see the healer alone or with any other pony detain them or prevent them from entering the room by any means necessary. When he does arrive ask Sparkler and Dinky if they are in there to please leave and allow the healer the privacy they need."

The two guards nodded and relieved Sparkler of her father's weight and with her and Dinky following they carried him inside the castle and out of sight. However Celestia was not finished issuing instructions because she turned to the rest of the guards present and started yelling to make sure they all could hear her. "The rest of you will each be divided into your respective groups and alert any other guards that aren't gathered here of my orders, Earth ponies will go throughout Canterlot and inform everypony to remain inside until further notice, knock on each door and wake them up if you must."

"Unicorn guards will start to prepare the castle for an imminent siege, start sealing up the gates and locking all possible entrances into the castle besides the main entrance. Use your magic to seal the entrances and remain close to any entrance sealed by magic; I don't want so much as a wayward bird to enter the palace."

"Pegasus guards will be divided into two groups, group A will assist the Earth guards with informing Canterlot's citizens to remain indoors until further notice, use the skies and spread word as quickly as you can. Group B will stand guard over the outer perimeter of the city and watch from the skies for anypony or anything approaching, whether it is by ground or air is not a concern. You will deter anypony from entering Canterlot until further notice, if they object tell them it is by Princess Celestia's orders and if they continue to object then take them in for questioning but do not leave your post alone! If anything or anypony attempts to enter through the air turn them away, if a pony arrives riding a strange contraption delay it however you can and send a messenger back to the palace to bring word of the situation."

With her instruction issued all her guards started leaving to carry out her orders, and she turned to Luna and the element keepers. "The Professor is not done with us, of that I am sure." She said, sounding very unlike her usual kind and wise self. "She attacked us before merely to bring The Doctor out of his comfortable life and drive him into the open. She will come back to regain her prize that we rescued from her, and this time she will not be stealthy about it. Her next assault will be direct and it will be damaging. She may attempt to attack by the sky or she may attempt to sneak in. I don't know how she thinks entirely but I do know that she is more than willing to burn down half of Canterlot if everypony got in her way, we must not allow innocent ponies to be harmed because of her obsession with revenge."

"To ensure that no innocent ponies are harmed, I will require you and your friend's help my student." She said to Twilight. "I will cast a vast spell over every building in Canterlot, with exception to the palace because it's so large. The spell will create a barrier that will protect everypony inside the buildings and ensure they are safe. The spell will last for at least a full day, but will require more strength then I have available to me, only the Elements of Harmony will provide me the strength necessary to perform such a spell."

"I swore to protect Sparkler's father because of the services he has done for me, my sister, my kingdom, and even the very planet itself, both in the past and future." She said as she looked at them one at a time. "I failed to stop this mare once before, and it cost not only The Doctor his peaceful life, but also cost my kingdom the temporary loss of its main ruler. I was also told of the injuries my subjects in Canterlot sustained because of The Professor's mad quest for revenge against a single Time Lord. While I am fully aware that this entire situation is the result of The Doctor choosing to live his life among us, it is not his fault because he wished to live peacefully with his new family. I failed everypony once before, I will not allow that mare to harm another of my subjects."

She looked at them over one last time before she turned and started to head back into the castle, and Luna saw that fire burning in her eyes again, even stronger than they were before, and she swore that in the two days her sister had been captured that she had changed drastically. When her sister woke up two nights ago and raised the sun, she had been a kind, gentle, and very wise and exceptionally patient ruler of Equestria. Now she sounded very cruel and very impatient to have her way carried out, she no longer sounded wise but instead was irrational and asking so much from her guards that she normally would never have done. She was setting herself such high stakes that anything less than perfection would result in failure. She was also sounding far from gentle, instead she sounded dangerous and overall without a lack of kindness in her words.

–_**What happened to my sister?- **_Luna thought to her two guards as they started walking back into the palace. _**–What happened to my sister Celestia, what did that mare do to change her so much in so little time?-**_

_**-Though a tree may seem strong and unyielding, if enough pressure is applied it will bend and eventually break.- **_Her guard Hawk whispered to her in her mind. _**–The wind is the only force we know of that does not obey anypony, not even you and your sister.-**_

_**-Stone does not move unless it is forced to move, just because it appears to be solid does not mean it is solid. Water is the only thing that can change stone so much, and while we can control water it will never call any it's master.- **_Owl whispered to her before they both left her mind so that she could think privately again.

=Twilight's PoV=

Twilight followed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from the palace gardens and from there to the throne room. They entered the throne room and moments later Celestia retrieved a case containing the Elements of Harmony and divided them among each of them. Once they had their respected Elements of Harmony, Celestia wasted no time in leading them toward the nearest balcony and began to prepare her magic while Twilight and her friends prepared to channel the Elements into her to power her magic. While they waited she had asked her sister to wait at the main gate for the healer to arrive so that she could take them to The Doctor's room for immediate treatment.

"Unless the guard I sent to collect the healer is with them, do not allow any healer inside the palace, understood sister?" Celestia said abruptly as they waited on the balcony.

Luna nodded and left with her two guards Owl and Hawk, electing to not comment at how Celestia had spoken to her. After they left Celestia was greeted by several of her servants who had heard her voice from outside in the gardens and came to welcome her back to the castle. "We've been worried about you you're majesty, ever since the filly napping happened and the ensuing confusion following it." One of her maids said. "We hoped you were unharmed and would come back soon."

Twilight expected her teacher to smile at them and thank them for being patient and worried about her safety, but she merely turned to them nodded in response, requesting that they light the cooking fires and make immediate preparations for a meal for her, the Element Bearers, Sparkler and Dinky, and Luna. They all bowed and left to begin making a very late meal for them.

She knew that Celestia meant well with wanting to prepare all these magical barrier's as well as summoning the nearest healer for Sparkler's father, but she had never seen her teacher ever act this way to any of her subjects, including her own sister. She knew her teacher as a wise, intelligent and kind ruler with everypony's best interest at heart. However this was the first time she had ever seen Celestia act rude and impatient to the degree she was acting.

"Princess is there something wrong?" Twilight asked, not wanting to incur her teacher's anger if indeed that was what she was feeling.

"Yes there are many things wrong my student." Celestia said as she looked out at her kingdom, choosing not to look at Twilight in the eye. "Everything is not what it should be. There are many thoughts going through my mind right now, but you need not concern yourself with what I am thinking at the moment."

"It's just that princess, you aren't acting like yourself." Twilight said, choosing her words carefully so that she wouldn't sound rude.

"How exactly am I supposed to be acting my faithful student?" Celestia asked, still not looking at her.

"Well I don't know but, you aren't acting like yourself. You're acting more rashly then you usually act, you're also giving more instructions to everypony then you ever did before, you're also not..."

"My student I am trying to protect ponies from a being not from our world, one who possesses technology and weaponry beyond anything we have." Celestia interrupted suddenly, still refusing to not look at any of them. "This mare is more than capable of defeating every conceivable defense we could prepare against her, and yet I am trying to not only protect a good friend from her wrath, but now I am trying to protect all of my subjects from her wrath for resisting her. The only pony that can possibly fight her on equal terms is currently in desperate need of medical attention and is in no way fit to even stand with us, let alone fight her on even terms, and she has already defeated once before or else we would not be in this situation to begin with. This is not the time for kind and gentle words such as please and thank you. If I am to have any hope of protecting so many ponies from her attack, I must make every possible preparation both practical and impractical in order to have even the tiniest chance against her."

After a good five minutes of silence she finally turned to look at Twilight with one eye, and she saw that there was almost none of Celestia's love and kindness left in them. Her eyes had lost their usual glimmer; instead they were colder and much less welcoming. "I was once able to talk to that mare when she was not in a maddened state of revenge." She said quietly. "She showed me her plans and spoke of killing The Doctor's firstborn filly, just so she could purify his Time Strand Energy. She said that, while she had never before taken a life, she is more than willing and capable of doing so. She is without remorse or regrets; all she has is her loneliness, her pain and thoughts of revenge. I have elected to stand against her, to put myself and even my kingdom against her to protect a friend of mine."

Celestia looked at them again with a look of determination that Twilight had never seen before in her life. "If I can't stop her from taking her revenge against The Doctor, then what kind of ruler am I?" She said. "I will do all I can to protect my subjects, and this includes Sparkler's and Dinky's father. If I can't even do something as simple as save a valued member of my kingdom, then I am unworthy to rule Equestria as its leader."

After that, Twilight could tell that her teacher had nothing more to say, and chose to simply help her prepare to protect all of Canterlot's citizens. With the help of her friends they channeled the Elements of Harmony into Celestia's magic so that she could begin casting one of the largest and strongest spells she had ever used. Building by building, block by block, section by section she cast one of the most powerful protection spells for her subjects she had ever cast in her lifetime. The effort drained her of much of her strength and stamina, even with the Elements of Harmony aiding her magic, but after almost three hours she declared her work was completed. Soon though her spell casting was finished, however the effort left her tired and drained because she was gasping for breath. A few minutes later one of her servants returned to inform her that the meal she asked them to prepare was ready for them, and escorted them all to the dining room.

=Sparkler's PoV=

"How much longer before the healer arrives?" Sparkler asked the guards keeping watch outside the room as she listened to the sound of her father taking shorter and shorter breaths.

"It's been only a few minutes miss Sparkler, be patient." The guard called from outside. "The healer will need time to get here. We'll let you know the moment they arrive."

Sparkler turned back to her father as Dinky tried her best to climb over the edge of the bed so she could look at their father as well. It had been almost three hours since they had returned to the safety of Canterlot, though after two trips in her father's Tardis she had to admit to herself that it didn't seem all that safe anymore. She hoped that the healer would hurry up; her father was in desperate need of a healer. She knew that he had been trapped in that crazy mare's Tardis for all that time without a decent meal and proper sleep. That wasn't even counting the torture that he must have endured at her hooves.

"Sister, will daddy be okay?" Dinky asked nervously.

Sparkler looked at her little sister and saw the worried look on her face, so she tried to cheer her up as best she could. "Don't worry little sis, dad will get better soon." She said. "As soon as Princess Luna comes with the healer he'll get better."

She looked back at the door and asked herself where that healer was, it had been nearly three hours and still there was no sign of them. If they didn't hurry soon she feared that they would lose their father a second time. She was glad to have found their dad, alive if not well, but she wished that she and the others could have brought their father back in better condition. Or at the very least brought him back conscious, but nevertheless she was glad on some level to have saved him.

Saving her father had brought her a sense of accomplishment that she had felt she was lacking ever since his capture she had been forced to run all over the Everfree Forest, searching for her sister, her father, a strange alien ship, and Celestia knew what else she was looking around for.

Remembering her search for The Professor's Tardis reminded her that the stallion, whom she called father, had fathered Dinky with their mother Ditzy, was not a normal stallion. In fact she had to keep reminding herself that he was indeed not a stallion at all, that he was indeed an alien. _–But how do they know he's an alien.- _She thought as she watched him taking short breaths. _–He looks just like any other stallion you meet around here, there has to be some way to be sure, there just has to be!-_

Out of sheer instinct she decided to check his heartbeat to make sure it was steady, just to put her mind at ease about him getting weaker by the second. She leaned down and put her ear to where his heart should be and thought her hearing was messed up. She turned her head and listened with her other ear to make sure she was hearing properly. _–This can't be right.- _She thought as she realized what she was hearing.

She heard two heart beats, as crazy as it was there were two hearts beating inside of her father. "He really is an alien." Sparkler said out loud as she looked at him. "Dinky, our father really is an alien from another world."

"Is that a good thing?" Dinky asked.

"I don't know." She whispered as she looked at her little sister again, wondering if she too had two hearts inside of her or not.

"He's still our daddy though right?" Dinky asked her nervously.

Sparkler looked at Dinky for a moment before looking back at the stallion lying on the bed. She thought long and hard about that question, knowing that eventually she or Dinky would ask that question. At first she couldn't ever imagine not being part of Dinky's family. After all her family was the one who adopted Sparkler when no other family wanted to even bother with her. Second she didn't want to leave her new family, it was the only family she had ever had and she wanted to be a part of it. But on the flip side of the question, how could she possibly want to be a part of a family, in which her father is an alien is disguised and hides among ponies every single day. Second she didn't know if her adopted mother really loved her father, or he had tricked her in some way to get her to love him, or if SHE was an alien as well, or if he even loved her at all.

But then she looked back into Dinky's eyes and saw the worried expression on her face, and knew without a doubt that there was no way their father, alien or not, could ever be so cruel as to trick a mare into loving him. He wasn't anything like The Professor.

"Yea, he's still our dad Dinky."

"Miss Sparkler, the healer has arrived!" The guard outside yelled, and a moment later the door opened so that a stallion with Red Cross cutie mark could run in. Following him was a mare in nurse scrubs and also had a Red Cross cutie mark, although it could barely be seen because of the nurse scrubs. He was carrying

"I am Doctor Cobbler, newly appointed healer of the Canterlot Royal Clinic for Injured Ponies and this is my wife Nurse Kindle!" He shouted as he dropped a bag full of medical devices on the floor while the nurse dropped a second back full of medicine. He ran over to Sparkler's father and started examining him with stethoscope while his wife prepared a syringe of some kind.

"Miss Sparkler, Dinky, can you two please come out here?" Luna called from outside.

Sparkler wanted to stay with her father in case they needed help, or an explanation, but figured it would be wiser to leave her father to the healer's care. So with Dinky they left their father in Cobbler's and Kindle's hooves and left the room to join Luna outside. Luna looked tired as she smiled at Sparkler with her two guards, Hawk and Owl behind her.

"Well since our best healer has arrived, how about we go and get something to eat you two." She said as she turned and started walking toward the dining hall. "We're sure you must both be hungry after all of this."

"With all due respect Princess, my little sister and I would rather stay closer to my father now that we finally rescued him." Sparkler said.

"We know you're worried about him Sparkler, believe me when we say that we feel the exact same way." Luna said calmly. "However there's nothing more you or anypony can do for him at this point. It's up to the healers to help him now. The best thing you and Dinky can do for him now is to fill up your bellies and get a good rest. You both have done your part to save him, let my sister and us take it from here."

Unable to counter that argument, Sparkler had to agree that Princess Luna was right, and so allowed herself to be led from the guest room where her father was fighting for his life and down to the dining room so that she and her sister could get something to eat.

=Celestia's PoV=

Celestia was glad to be back among her subjects again, not only was she once more around ponies she knew, knew cared for her, and she cared about as well, but also for one very important detail that The Professor had sorely lacked. She was glad to see her student and her friends again, she was also happy to see her sister as well, but even that didn't compare to the one thing in her kingdom that she was happy to see that she didn't even realize she had missed so much. She was happy to see the food and cooking of her chefs again.

When she saw the food arrayed at her request she had wasted no time in making sure everyone was settled in before digging into the elaborate midnight meal. She had never imagined that the meals she ate every day had ever tasted this good, but after eating almost nothing for a full two days with only a small salad prepared by a crazy Time Lord mare bent on revenge, she had to admit that this was paradise. She dug into the salads, filled her plate up with soups, and stuffed herself with all the food she could eat. When it came to the wine glass her servants poured for her however, she just ignored her glass for the most part in favor of more food. When the main course was served and done, she eagerly watched as her servants rolled the desert tray in before she dug her way through different types of cakes and pies.

She swore that the food of her kingdom had never tasted so good before that day.

Once they finished eating she had her servants guide Twilight and her friends to the guest rooms so they could get some sleep, both because they had been awake for so long and to prepare them for the morning, as well as the battle to come. She had to coax Sparkler and Dinky to do the same but eventually she managed to get them into the bedchambers. Once they were all gone, she and her sister finally had time to themselves, both to mend the bonds of her actions earlier and to prepare plans for the upcoming battle. To prepare they headed for the library, which contained a detailed diagram of the construction of the palace.

"If she comes by the sky how can we stop her?" Celestia said as she pulled out the map and examined every possible entry point into the castle.

"Perhaps we could have the catapults be redirected into the air and launch projectiles at her as she flies?" Luna suggested.

"No, that wouldn't do any good sister. She can easily outmaneuver anything we throw at her in the sky." She whispered as she examined the fastest passage one would need to take from the main gate to the throne room. "The only way to the guest rooms is through the throne room, and to do that she would have to get past every possible defense we throw up. We need to stop her at the throne room or else she'll murder The Doctor."

"Well we can forget outlasting her or capturing her." Luna said. "She can easily handle all of our guards single handed with that Mind over Matter technique she possesses. In the blink of an eye she can defeat a dozen guards without them ever having a chance. Not even magic can match that speed."

"No but there's a definite limit to how many times she can use it, she may be strong but she's not invincible." Celestia said as she looked at the throne room's design as an idea took shape in her mind. "I watched what happened when she pushed herself over her limit, it nearly killed her and she had no choice but to retreat and rest. Given her track record I doubt she will wait a full day to recover, she can't risk it with The Doctor back among friends and allies. Her greatest weapons were surprise and preparation; she outsmarted him because he didn't have any time to prepare for her properly. She however had plenty of time to prepare for him, and she kept herself hidden all this time while he took care of his family."

She looked down at the diagram and wished she knew more about this Time Lord, her plan was worthless if one simple element remained out of reach. "Of all the opponents we've faced, why did we have to fight one that was immune to every magic we have!" She uttered. "Our guards can do nothing but stall her, our magic is worthless against her, and the strongest power we have is nothing compared to her power. If only we could use magic against her, then maybe we can win!"

"Magic isn't useless against her sister." Luna said suddenly. "The Doctor managed to use my magic against her, albeit with the help of the Elements of Harmony. We believe that he said something about, affecting the area around the Time Lord instead of the Time Lord itself."

"Well if that's the case, then I have an idea that might work." Celestia said as her plan played out in her mind.

They left the library and were stopped by a guard as he ran toward them. "Your majesty's, we discovered a suspicious toy moments ago attempting to gain access to the Palace." He said respectfully. "At Princess Luna's request we detained the toy at the main entrance until you could inspect it. It's nothing like the toy we encountered earlier that gained access to the palace."

"Bring it to the throne room."Celestia said and watched the guard bow and leave hurriedly.

Five minutes later Celestia watched as several guards carried a small box into the room with lances pointed at it. They put the box down and allowed Celestia to walk toward it and investigate the toy inside. Once she saw the toy, she immediately ordered one of her guards to awaken Dinky and bring her down here at once. After another minute Dinky came down the stairs, sleepy eyed and tired, but scared as the guard led her toward Celestia and Luna.

"What's wrong?" Dinky asked nervously as Mr. TomTom flew into the room and landed next to her.

"We found something that you might be happy to see." Celestia said, pointing at the box.

Dinky walked over to the box and opened the lid, and she yelled in joy as she pulled out her badly burned, barely recognizable, but still working Midnight Luna toy. The toy's body was a blackened mess of solid ash and burned wood, its legs were like tiny bones as the wires which made them work were all exposed, its left eye was destroyed and the internal parts were exposed while the right eye was covered in dirt and other pieces of forest and ground, and its missing fourth leg had been replaced by a thick twig with wires wrapped around it. Despite the ruined mess the toy was in, somehow, impossible as it seemed, the toy had survived the explosion of its supposed sacrifice and managed to walk all the way from the Everfree Forest to Canterlot, all in three hours.

"You came back Midnight Luna!" Dinky said happily as she held her toy close to her.

**(I… had… to find you… again.) **The toy said. **(I knew you… would come… back to Canterlot.)**

"How did you get back here and how did you escape that big fireball?" Dinky asked.

The toy used one of it exposed wires on the legs it had to remove some of the solid ash of its body, revealing a shiny layer of metal beneath the wooden part of its body. **(One millimeter of adamantium… plating covers the… primary sections of my body… to absorb and protect my internal systems… from external damage.) **It said. **(After the crash… I lost my ability… to scan for you and the others… so I crawled out of the explosion site… and then I found my way to an area… where I could start to look for you… once it became clear that you were gone… I started toward the one location you would go back to… with your father… Canterlot. I also had… to find a twig strong enough… to hold my weight for the journey.)**

"Why did you do that with Rainbow Dash?" Dinky asked sadly. "Why didn't you tell me what you were going to do?"

**(You… wouldn't… have let me go… if I told you.) **The toy said slowly, its voice getting weaker and weaker. **(I had… to protect you… and the others at any cost. It was my duty… it was always my duty… as your toy to protect you… and make you happy.)**

"What's wrong with you, why are you talking slower?" Dinky said worriedly.

**(My power cells… are at their limits.) **It said as its legs started hanging limply. **(I exhausted my remaining energy… to get to Canterlot… to see you one last time.)**

"We can save you; Twilight can do the thingy with the ball of light again!" Dinky said quickly, but her toy shook its head slowly.

**(No… my body is too damaged… I can't absorb enough… energy to compensate for the loss of power.) **It said slowly, turning to look at Dinky with its one good eye. **(I just want to ask… one last thing… before I run out of… power. Are you… happy… did I make you happy? Am I a good toy?)**

"You were a wonderful toy." Dinky said happily, still crying slightly as she held her toy as close as she could.

**(Then… I did my duty…) **The toy said as it lowered its head. **(I… did… my… duty as… you're toy. You're happy… it makes… everything…worth… it…)**

The toy's eye grew dimmer and dimmer, until the light inside its eye was lost, and it became limp in Dinky's hooves. "No… NO!" She yelled helplessly as she tried to shake her toy awake. "Wake up, please wake up! Don't go to sleep please!"

Celestia felt herself crying alongside the small filly as she tried desperately to wake her toy back up. She had only known the toy for barely an hour at most, but in that one hour, it did more for Dinky and all of them then she had done in two days. She took Dinky in her hooves and carried her back up to the guest rooms, despite her guard's willingness to do it for her.

Five minutes later she left Dinky in Sparkler's room, explaining why she was crying, and closed the door and headed across to The Doctor's room to check up on him. The healer, Doctor Cobbler was just finishing packing his bags when she opened the door.

"Princess, good to see you your majesty." He said respectfully as he bowed to her.

"You as well healer, please tell me his condition." She said.

"Yes your majesty, his condition is bad but I believe he should make a full recovery." He said. "I don't know how or what it is that's keeping him alive, but he should be okay if he eats well and rests well for a while."

The nurse pulled out a small notepad and spoke up. "There is one thing we'd like to talk to you about your majesty." She said. "It's his heart… we discovered that he had two hearts. We can't explain this phenomenon but somehow he has two hearts inside his body where there should only be one. We've never seen an earth pony with this kind of… condition."

"I'm fully aware of his two hearts you two." Celestia said in her royal voice. "Now I have an order for you two to obey, and you must do it so that no more harm comes to him in the future."

"Yes your majesty?" They said quietly.

"I order you both to never speak of this stallion's condition ever again." She declared. "If anypony asks you treated one of my servants who had suffered a near fatal heart attack. You did not treat an Earth stallion with two hearts and you did not discover anything wrong with the patient you treated. As far as anypony is concerned you treated one of my servants, am I clear?"

They both nodded and Celestia turned to leave, but Doctor Cobbler spoke up and asked her a question. "Forgive me my lady but there is something I'd like to know. Has this pony ever been in Manehattan before?" He asked. "I feel as if I know him from somewhere, yet I haven't seen him before."

Celestia wondered if she should answer them, but she chose to ignore them and walked on. "Remember what I said, you never treated this stallion and he does not exist medical wise." She said. "There are to be no records, nothing, not even a note about this stallion or his condition."


	15. Chapter 13 - The One Mare Army

Chapter 13 – The One Mare Army

=Celestia's PoV, Sunrise=

Celestia watched from hers and Luna's bedchamber balcony as she performed her duty of raising the sun for the first time since her fillynapping. She had hoped that it would give her a sense of accomplishment as well as normalcy since the incident, but deep down she knew that this was not an ordinary sunrise, one that she wished offered the promise of a new day, but was merely the beginning of perhaps the end of one of her greatest friendships she had ever had.

Luna had left the room after performing her duty of lowering the moon so that Celestia could raise the sun in solitude, for the first time in many long years. Celestia preferred it this way today; she didn't want to be with her sister for this particular morning, she didn't want to share the morbid and very sullen thoughts that were coursing through her mind at the moment. Thoughts of pain and torture, thoughts of distrust and wickedness, thoughts of cruelty and anguish flooded her mind as she watched her magic raise the sun ever higher into the sky.

"Comes the Dawn." She said to herself as she recalled a poem she had read while she was a guest aboard The Doctor's Tardis after he and Ditzy rescued her from Daleks. "After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul, and you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't mean security, and you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises, and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open."

"With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child, and you learn to build all your roads on today, because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans, and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight." She continued as she looked down at her city, and saw nopony's in the streets of Canterlot. "After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much. So you plant your own garden and decorate our own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure…"

She stopped looking at her city and instead glanced down at the Palace walls and the main entrance, and saw all of her guards standing at attention, finishing up her instruction of closing all of the gate entrances into the palace and watching for anything approaching. "That you really are strong, and you really do have worth." She continued as several Pegasi guards flew from a section of the city toward another section that they hadn't done yet. "And you learn and learn… with every goodbye you learn."

She had read that poem and felt like it was talking to her, whoever the author was, this Veronica, had probably written that poem just to speak to her and tell her what she must do. The poem had touched something deep inside her; at first she hadn't thought about it much back then and merely regarded it as a poem that shared the name of her cutie mark. Now however she knew that the poem was talking to her, telling her to be strong in this dark hour, even though the sun was shining as brightly as it always did each morning. Somehow in those words written by another being from a distant planet across time and space, they had found their true worth and the pony they had been written for in her, as she looked over her glistening city of Canterlot from the balcony of her bedchamber.

"This will be the morning that determines so many things." She said as she turned from the balcony and proceeded to leave her bedchamber. "Will I be able to save one of my closest friends? Will a family be deprived of its father? Is there any way I can save one of my kingdom's most distinguished subjects?"

She had never faced a war, at least not on the scale or even compared to what The Doctor was used to. Her kingdom was one of peace, built on companionship and trust in each other, there was no way her guards were prepared with their level of training to deal with a terror such as The Professor. That wasn't even including the technical horrors that she could and was no doubt prepared to unleash upon them, given what she tried to do to them hours ago as they fled from her Tardis. Her guards were not trained to fight a war, they were trained in non-lethal combat to protect her from disruptive ponies, and even then their services were not needed because of how well she had managed her kingdom and how well she had taken care of them over the years. There was only one pony, in all of her kingdom, who knew warfare and combat on that scale and that could match The Professor.

Unfortunately that pony was still unconscious, lying asleep in the guest room she had ordered him taken to. The healer's had done all they could, but until he got a good rest and a decent meal, there was no telling when he would awaken. So she and her subjects were on their own, to face the wrath of a pony who was older then Celestia, had traveled just as far as The Doctor, and was possibly even more dangerous than he was, with no morale restraint and absolutely no mercy in her cold hearts and burning eyes. She was immune to most magic, had a power that rivaled anything Celestia could conceive of, and the wits to outsmart everypony on the planet Gaia.

Needless to say, the odds were stacked against them.

"Well, I guess the time has come to wake Twilight and her friends." She said as she left the room and headed downstairs to the guest chambers. "I need to start making my own preparations if my plan is to have any chance of working. Everything must be precise if it is to have any chance of going unnoticed by her and catching her off guard."

As she walked down the stairs and passed by the windows she felt the light of her sun shining down on her, filling her with strength and courage. She looked out the window at the sun, her closest ally in all things, and nodded at it. "Don't worry, my old friend, I shall be victorious this day." She whispered as she headed to Twilights room to wake up her student.

=Luna's PoV, One hour after Sunset=

"How are the preparation's going?" Luna inquired as several lieutenants reported in from the various posts around the palace, city, and outskirts of the city at her elder sister's request. "Are the ground level entrances into the palace sealed off?"

She had relieved her two guards, Hawk and Owl shortly after Dinky was sent back to bed so that they could get rest themselves. She too had elected to rest, and minutes before the sun was due to rise, awoke to perform her duty and lower the moon. However she elected to leave her sister alone so that she could raise the sun in peace, there was something in the way she stared at out from their bedchamber balcony that told her that Celestia wanted to be alone. So now, wanting to relieve her sister of some of the burden of preparing for The Professor's arrival, she was organizing reports from the guards she had given instructions to as well as making sure all her preparations were complete.

"All entrances into the palace besides the main gate have been sealed your majesty." An Earth guard said as he handed her a small map, with markings indicating the entrances and exits that have been sealed off. "We have at least two guards watching each entrance into the palace, and a third within eyesight or hearing range, if anything out of the ordinary occurs they will immediately raise the alarm."

"Good, what of the windows and ceiling entrances into the palace?" She asked a Unicorn guard.

"All have been magically sealed at Princess Celestia's request." The guard said quickly. "We have Unicorn squads manning the towers and walls to ensure nopony can enter through the sky entrances, and we have locked the towers up with timing spells that won't lose their effect for at least twelve hours. The entire palace is locked up. Only Unicorn guards can enter the palace now by means of any entrance, besides the main gate."

"Very good, and what of the citizens of Canterlot, hast thou finished informing them to remain indoors until further notice?" Luna asked a Pegasus Guard who looked extremely tired but stood at attention nonetheless.

"The last of the teams I sent are finishing up their sectors." He said quickly. "The Earth guards are on their way back and once the last of the homes are informed the Pegasi guards will join the Unicorn guards in watching the palace from the skies."

"Very well, all of you return to your posts and stay alert." She declared. "The Professor used toys to infiltrate the palace the last time she visited; we have no doubt that she might use similar contraptions again. If thou see anything that resembles a toy, either capture it or destroy it, we can deal with its pieces or the toy itself later."

They all nodded and left to return to their positions, leaving Luna to walk back to the throne room on her own. As she walked the palace hallways she noticed a major difference in how the palace felt to her, namely the look of the palace hallways and its occupants. The doors were all locked shut, the windows were bared, both magical and mundane, and every few feet there were guards watching those doors and windows. The guards were watching her much more intently then they ever did before, almost as though they thought she was an intruder. Even the servants were being closely watched as they tended to their duties, cleaning the palace and preparing breakfast for Celestia, Luna, and their guests. In just one night, the safest and most welcoming place in all of Equestria for a thousand years had become one of the most hostile and most suspicious in the entire kingdom.

"Just how much more will everything change around here." Luna whispered to herself as she passed through a hallway of glass windows on her way to the throne room.

It was as she passed by one of the windows she noticed something that made her heart skip a beat, a Pegasus Guard flying at top speed toward the palace, looking as though Discord himself was on his tail. She knew that something had happened, and it no doubt had something to do with the Professor. With a sense of urgency she sped toward the throne room, not knowing what would happen next, but knowing that something would happen very soon.

And it would be very, very harming to every one of them.

=Twilight's PoV, One hour after Sunrise=

"So what exactly are we preparing Princess?" Twilight asked as she watched her teacher wrap several lengths of painted rope around several statues hooves and bodies. "And what's with the special designs?"

"I'm preparing a trap for The Professor should she make it all the way here." Celestia said as she finished using her magic to place the ropes to create an elegant design. "I need to make it look as natural as possible; otherwise she won't fall for the trap. If everything else fails to stop her, then this will be my final trump card in holding her."

"Trump card?" Applejack asked as she helped place several lengths of rope around the front door to the throne room.

"It's a saying The Doctor says sometimes." Celestia said as she rearranged one of the ropes on a statue to mirror its twin. "Don't ask me how I know; I just know that's what he says."

"So what is your trap's purpose, to capture her and detain her?" Twilight asked as she finished draping a statue of Luna with the ropes as well.

The ropes were all colored to mimic the color of the statues. With her help as well, they disguised the ropes so that they were almost invisible. Twilight could almost barely see the ropes she herself had draped around the statues, both to Celestia's amazement and satisfaction. However her teacher didn't answer her question as Rainbow Dash called for their attention.

"That's the last one Princess!" Rainbow Dash called from above them, indicating several colorfully decorated ropes arranged to mirror Celestia's and Luna's cutie marks.

"Well done all of you." Celestia said as she admired all of their work.

"Princess, exactly what is your plan?" Twilight asked again as they heard the sound of somepony knocking on the throne door.

"Later my student." She said as she used her magic to open the door, allowing Princess Luna and a very exhausted guard to storm in.

"Sister!" Luna shouted. "We have received word from the perimeter guards you sent."

The guard hastily bowed to Celestia before quickly launching into an explanation about his visit. "Your majesty, at your request I was sent to give word from the perimeter!" He said quickly. "We spotted a strange flying contraption that looked similar to what fled Canterlot yesterday morning approaching our perimeter to the north. It was approaching at a speed far exceeding anything we could match. Riding the machine was an earth mare with a silver mane, what happened after I left I do not know."

Before Celestia could reply a roaring sound came from outside, far in the distant but getting louder every second. "I think we know what happened to your comrades." She said as she beckoned them all to follow her toward the nearest balcony.

Moments later Twilight looked out and saw in the distance, but getting clearer, a large black object trailing fire as it sped toward Canterlot, making a beeline for the palace. Twilight cast a spell to give herself sharper eyesight, and in a moment saw with absolute clarity the image of The Professor, staring with fury in her eyes as her machine brought her closer and closer to the palace.

"It's her alright Princess." Twilight said as she examined the new flying machine she was riding before ending her spell. "It doesn't look like she brought anything this time around; I can't see anything new she could have strapped to those metal wings of hers. How are we going to keep her away from the guest rooms upstairs, all your preparations will be for nothing if she can fly over everything?"

"I could fly out there and meet her." Rainbow Dash suggested. "Maybe I can jam up those engine things of hers, or maybe I could knock her out of the sky with a sonic rainboom. I bet she hasn't had to deal with something like that in all her years."

"No, I have an idea." Celestia said suddenly, sounding very unlike herself to Twilight as she watched The Professor drawing closer.

"What's that sister?" Luna asked.

"I'm going to do what she did to my subjects; I'm going to take the sky away from her as she took it away from us." She said as her horn glowed. "If I can cast a spell to interrupt whatever it is fueling those engines strapped to her metal wings, she will be forced to descend and land outside the palace. If she  
wished to continue on her mad quest then she would have no choice but to face our defenses head on."

"But Princess how can you possibly affect her wings like that?" Twilight asked suddenly, shocked that her teacher would ever suggest such a method. "I saw those things with my own eyes. Magic is useless against her tools, how can you possibly do what you're suggesting?"

"I don't, but I have to try." Celestia whispered as she prepared to cast her spell.

=Celestia's PoV=

She had no idea how she knew her spell would work, or how it would happen. Somewhere deep inside her thinking, she just knew that those metal wings of The Professor's relied on some kind of fuel source to power their propulsion. She also knew that a combination of certain spells as well as thought to guide her magic would allow her to disable the metal wings of this revenge obsessed mare. How she knew that, well that was another story; somehow she just knew how to stop her from simply bypassing all of their defenses.

"Uh Princess, have you ever done anything like this before?" Twilight asked a second later, as the sound of the mechanical wings drawing closer became louder.

"Have I ever been forced to disable metal wings before?" Celestia asked, already knowing the answer.

It took her about one full minute to create the spell in her mind, and all this time The Professor went from being a small speck in the distance, to being very large and soaring right over Canterlot. However just before she could reach the palace itself, Celestia cast her spell and watched with satisfaction as the engines on her back sputtered and gasped, their flames vanishing and reappearing with increasing frequency. The Professor immediately began to descend with rapid haste, and Celestia watched from the balcony with great satisfaction as the mare was helplessly forced to a premature landing well outside of her intended target.

"Now she has to contend with us." She whispered to herself as she watched The Professor eject from her wings and tumble onto the stone road beyond the front gate. Her metal wings spiraled into the ground and took the form of a black segmented ball just before it crashed, and rolled out of sight. **"ClOSE THE MAIN GATE!" **Celestia bellowed in her Canterlot voice.

The main gate immediately rattled and locked shut as all of her guards, Unicorn, Pegasus and Earth started flooding toward the main gate, just as The Professor galloped toward it at the same time. Moments later the gate seemed to unlock itself as she pulled a metallic rod and pointed it at the gate. Then she had a moment to watch as her guards surrounded The Professor and positioned themselves to capture her, before chaos erupted in the courtyard in front of the palace.

It all happened in a flash, The Professor looked around at all of Celestia's guards, leering at the angrily while they looked at her with determined expressions. Then a second later, she vanished and several of her guards nearest the gate collapsed, as she reappeared next to a second group of guards. The second group tried to stop her, but they were just as helpless as the first, as she vanished again and reappeared near a third group. The third group was comprised of Unicorn guards and they tried magic to hold her, but their efforts were in vain as she vanished yet again, and took down all of them in a blink of an eye. Most of the fourth and final group of guards fled back into the palace while a few brave guards stood their ground to try and buy their comrades time to escape, electing to charge the mare and fight her hoof to hoof. She chose to fight them in hoof to hoof as well, and she proved too experienced and too powerful to overcome, but still she was stalled for several moments while the guards locked the front entrance to the palace.

With the aftermath of the first battle over she stood tall and stared up at the palace, looking directly at Celestia and her group as they watched her from the upper balcony. She then pointed a hoof at them all before turning and slowly walking toward the front door.

Celestia knew the meaning behind her gesture. She was coming for The Doctor, and nothing was going to stop her.

=The Professor's PoV=

_**-I hate these quadrupeds!- **_She told to herself as she walked over the fallen guards she had defeated outside of the palace.

Despite her clearly overwhelming power, she restrained herself from killing any of them. They were merely following their leader's orders, it was not their fault that they had been asked to fight a foe that they could not hope to overcome. Soldiers were soldiers, no matter how gentle they were, they were innocent in that they merely followed their orders. Besides she was saving her first and hopefully only murder for The Doctor.

_**-Let's see one locked door into the palace; gee you think they didn't want me to visit them.- **_She thought to herself as she walked to the front door and pulled out her sonic screwdriver. _**–Knock knock, anybody home?-**_

She pointed her screwdriver at the door and activated its unlocking feature, and saw the door open on its own, swinging outward for her to enter. She stepped through and instantly had to enter her Mind over Matter state, merely to deal with the fifteen guards that had tried to ambush her as she entered the main entryway. They were easy enough to deal with, but the expenditure of energy and stamina was starting to wear on her. She still hadn't fully recovered from using her technique so frequently the day before. Judging by how much her hearts were beating and how many breaths she was taking, she had maybe seven or eight more Mind over Matter state uses before she would suffer another fatal heart attack, and so far from her Tardis there was no way she could make it back in time to save her life.

Still, she did not give a care about if this was to be her final day alive. She would have her revenge and she would gladly kill herself to make it a reality.

After she took care of the guards in the entrance hall she made her way down the corridor and up the nearest staircase to the throne room level. She encountered another group of guards, fiercely determined to protect their princess's, standing in her way and charging her to hold her at bay. She was forced to enter her Mind over Matter state yet again, just to deal with the twenty of them. After she dealt with them she moved on, ignoring their groans of pain and continued toward the throne room, encountering more guards and more difficulties.

_**-They care so much for their princess, yet they don't realize that I am not here for her or any of these natives.- **_She thought as she ended her Mind over Matter technique again and surveyed her work.

It was true that she wasn't interested in Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, she was here for one Time Lord, and he was clearly being held upstairs if the number of guards being thrown at her were anything to judge by.

Ten minutes later, and after a dozen more encounters with guards in which she couldn't spare her Mind over Matter technique for, she saw the Throne Room entrance. Unfortunately it was guarded by the lunar princess and her two bodyguards. All three of them were standing in front of the door, looks of determination and desperation adorning their faces. Luna, the one in the center, was further back, while her two guards stood before her, prepared to die for her if that was what it took to protect her, but still she looked ready to fight to the end.

"So all that stands between me and the throne room, is you three?" She called out to the as she walked toward them. It was becoming harder to talk; her excursions had drained her of so much stamina.

"Thou hast harmed enough of our subjects!" Luna declared in that royal tone she seemed to always use. "This is as far as thou shall be permitted to traverse in our palace! Leave at once or face the consequences of your actions!"

"Oh shut up with the royal tone miss lunar pony." She said dully. "You're not scary and I've come too far to simply turn tail. I'm getting past you one way or another!"

"Not as long as we still stand!" Luna declared, her horn glowing and several hidden lances flew out and shot toward her.

The Professor would have run if she were an ordinary being, another being fearing for its life would have easily run away from the sharp objects being hurled at her. However she knew these ponies better than they realized. She watched each of them fly toward her, and burrow harmlessly into the floor, creating a cage around her. She smiled at the pathetic attempt to dissuade her, and merely pulled out the lances and proceeded to move toward the door.

"You're species is too gentle, miss Luna." She said smugly. "If you were even a bit crueler, those lances would have killed me. In fact, they should have killed me. That was probably the best chance you had to catch me off guard, I took a gamble to prove a point and you proved it. You don't aim to kill, you aim to persuade and aim to dissuade and you don't aim to inspire fear or terror."

"Stay away!" Luna yelled, using more magic to cause two of the statues nearest the throne room door to fly toward her.

She merely ran forward, avoiding being crushed by the statues. Once she was within range of her two guards they immediately tried to restrain her. She took them both down within two seconds of each other, before she turned to face the lunar princess. Even as defeat stood before her, she stood tall and strong, not willing to show any sign of fear. "I'll be gentle with you, and merely tap your neck to make you get out of the way." She whispered, before using her mind over matter technique to knock her out.

With nothing left standing between her and the throne room, she used her sonic screwdriver to open the door and walked through. Everything looked just as she remembered, statues and paintings, looking as though a celebration had taken place or was due to take place if the colorful ropes were anything to judge by. However it was her previous captive, Celestia, sitting atop her throne with the six Elements of Harmony bearers taking positions on either side of her that captured her attention. She strolled into the room and looked at the Sun princess as she looked at her, and she noticed something very different in her eyes that she had never seen before that day. A fire, burning in them that told an all too familiar story.

"So Princess Celestia, you've finally awoken to the horror that plagues all countries, kingdoms, empires and planets across the stars." She said loudly. "You have awoken to the horror that is war."

=Sparkler's PoV=

"**CLOSE THE MAIN GATE!"**

Sparkler had heard the yell from outside and heard the sound of the main gate being closed and locked, and then just as quickly being opened. It had been several minutes since Celestia had given the order to close the gate and now there was the constant yelling and cries as ponies downstairs yelled and yelled as whatever it was they were fighting got closer and closer to their level. She had taken Dinky into their father's room, now they were hoping that somehow Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would stop them.

"Sister what's happening outside?" Dinky asked shakily, holding her broken Midnight Luna toy as Mr. TomTom fluttered over their heads.

"We'll be fine sister, we're safe up here." Sparkler whispered gently, even at the sound of something heavy being smashed against the floor downstairs.

Then something happened that made Sparkler and Dinky jump, their father groaned as he started to get up. Slowly, but surely he got off the bed and wearily, very wobbly, walked toward the door. He opened the door and shakily left the room, leaving Sparkler almost speechless.

"Dad what are you doing?" She said suddenly, coming back to her senses as she ran out and caught him before he went too far.

"I need… to help." He whispered slowly, looking at her with very tired eyes. "I'm… the only one… who can help… stop her."

"No dad, let Celestia and the others worry about her, you need to rest you're not fully recovered yet!"

"I have to help!" Her father said loudly. "Sparkler Hooves, I am your father, now let me go and help everypony before it's too late!"

Sparkler had no choice, but to step back and watch as her father stumbles on his way toward the staircase and down to the throne room level.

=Celestia's PoV=

"So Princess Celestia, you've finally awoken to the horror that plagues all countries, kingdoms, empires and planets across the stars." The Professor said loudly. "You have awoken to the horror that is war."

"Yes… I did." Celestia whispered as she stared at the mare, and watched her walk ever closer into her trap.

"Tell me Princess, was this the best you could do?" She gloated as she walked closer and closer. "Your guards are defeated, groaning and griping with pain as they fought to protect you, even though I have no intention to harm you. Are you pleased with their performance? Did you believe you could defeat me with such paltry defenses? Not even your sister faired any better!"

Celestia ignored her and watched with determination until she had stopped right where she wanted her to. "They didn't have to do anything more than they did." She said quietly with suppressed rage. "I swear you will pay for what you have done this day Professor, for all the ponies you have harmed in your mad quest for vengeance, for the torture you forced us to endure, and now for what you have done to my own family. I swear you will pay for every single second of pain you have caused my subjects, every single one of them!"

"Don't bore me Princess." She said dully. "Let's count everything on the table. I am the most powerful being on this planet, I have the power to destroy all of you ponies with just a hint of my mental powers, and the only thing keeping me from taking my revenge against The Doctor, is yourselves. One powerless Princess of Equestria and six pitiful mares all armed with pointless magic that has absolutely no effect on me! What can you possibly do to stop me?"

"This!" Celestia declared as she used her magic to send every single piece of rope that they had strung up to wrap themselves around The Professor. The first two pieces of rope wrapped themselves so fast around her hooves that before she could even think about reacting she had already been tied up.

"What the…" She tried to say but her mouth was immediately gagged as another piece of rope wrapped itself around her mouth and tied it shut. The other pieces of rope continued to wrap around her body, her hooves, her waist, and everything else that could be bound. She was wrapped into a cocoon of ropes so tight that all she could do was wiggle helplessly as she fell to the floor. "Mmmpfh, mmph mmmmpfh!"

"What's the matter oh mighty being from the stars?" Celestia taunted as she used her magic to tighten the ropes even more. "Did the poor, outmatched, underestimated ponies of some backwater ball of grass and water outwit the smart, powerful Time Lord?"

"MMMPFH!" She tried to say, but all The Professor could do was glare angrily at Celestia as she wiggled as much as she could because of the tight ropes binding her.

"That's right Professor, you underestimated me and my ponies because you thought we were helpless little primitives in your eyes." Celestia said as she stood up and walked forward to look down at her. "You thought that without The Doctor we would be no challenge in beating, well your right on that regard. We do need him to protect us from those big dangers out there, and without him who knows what would befall my subjects if something bad happened. But you also believed that without him to fight for us, we would be outmatched against even you. My ponies may not be a match for the galaxies powerful races with their advanced weapons and mighty vessels, but against a single mad mare like you, we are more than capable of resisting you."

"Mmmpf!" She muttered, still glaring at her while trying to wiggle free of her bindings.

"Princess now that we have her, how are we going to keep her locked up?" Twilight asked quickly. "I mean if she even gets her hooves free who knows what will happen. How can we keep her restrained, you can't keep possibly keep your magic on her all the time day and night."

"No my student, I am not going to keep her restrained for very long." Celestia said as she prepared her magic to perform a spell she had only ever used once before.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked quietly.

"I'm going to do what I should have done the moment she appeared two days ago." She declared as she cast her spell and watched a symbol of her cutie mark appear beneath The Professor. "I'm going to send her to the one prison that even SHE cannot escape from."

"Mmmph?" The Professor tried to ask as she stopped wiggling at Celestia's words.

"That's right you revenge obsessed mare." Celestia said as she watched the symbol below the helpless mare glow brighter. "I, Princess Celestia ruler of Equestria in the year 1009 of my reign, hereby BANISH you to the one prison that can keep you for all of time. I banish you, to be placed under the powerful eye of my greatest ally. I BANISH YOU TO THE SUN ITSELF!"

"MMmMPPPF! MMMMPHF!" The mare tried to say, wiggling frantically as the symbol became more solid with each second, her eyes wide open as she tried to escape.

"Princess if you send her there she'll…" Twilight tried to say, but Celestia silenced her with her hoof.

"I know my student, but I have no choice!" She declared. "She is too dangerous to be allowed to live, and too powerful for us to have hold prisoner. She has harmed too many ponies in her quest to kill one of my closest friends and allies; I will not allow her another minute in my kingdom if it will harm any of my subjects. I have to do this my student."

"MMMPHF! MMMPHF MMMPFH MMMMFPH!" The Professor begged, still trying to wiggle away from the circle, but as she moved it moved with her.

"That's right, this spell was used only once before." Celestia said quietly. "I used it to send my own sister to her prison on the moon, for a thousand years. This time, I'm sending you to my own sun, so I have declared so it shall be!"

"Mmmmpfh!" She squealed, looking at Celestia with desperate eyes, begging her to spare her from that fate.

"You showed me mercy yes, but you also sent hundreds of my subjects to the hospitals when you captured The Doctor. You sent even more of my guards today to the infirmary because of their injuries sustained protecting us. You have also threatened the life of a small filly because of her lineage to a pony you wish to kill. For these crimes I have no choice but to protect my subjects at all cost, so there will be no mercy now after all you have done. My decision IS FINAL!"

"Mmmmph, mmmmph!" The Professor tried to beg, looking at Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash one at a time, but none of them spoke up to defend her.

"NO CELESTIA!" A stallion's voice yelled out suddenly, and they all looked at the door nearest the throne to see The Doctor, stumbling out, staring at the scene in front of him. "Don't do it Celestia, I'm begging you don't do it!"

"D… Doctor?" Celestia stuttered, maintaining her magic over The Professor.

"Please Celestia, don't do it!" He stammered, now walking as fast as he could toward the fallen Time Lord, who was now staring at him with eyes that showed a mix of hatred and hope, clearly knowing that he was her only hope of surviving now but still hating him with every fiber of her body. "Don't you kill that mare; no matter what she has done don't kill her. Just let her go before it's too late."

"Doctor… you know what she has done you know full well what she is capable of!" She stammered, shocked that her friend would willingly beg her to spare the life of this cruel being. "I can't just let her go; she'll kill you if given half the chance. Your filly as well, I have to do this Doctor, I MUST!"

"I know full well what she has done and can do Celestia, but please I'm begging you to let her go." He said, now stepping into the circle with her. "If you send her to the Sun for what she has done and can do, then you have to send me as well. My hooves are far more stained then hers, if you send her to the sun then you must send me as well for everything I have done, and you know I am serious about that."

"I… I... but…" She tried to say, trying to find some reason to use against his outburst. She knew he was serious, he would demand that he be punished for his crimes as well, and she would indeed have no choice but to sentence him to that fate as well.

"Don't descend to her level Celestia, it may seem alright at first, but once you take that first step down the road there is no turning back." He said sadly. "Do yourself a favor Tia, please I beg of you, let her go. Don't be her, and definitely don't be me. Please…"

Celestia looked between her friend and her captive, and said the last argument that could possibly persuade him to change his mind, already knowing his answer. "If I let her go, we'll never get this chance again to capture and contain her." She said. "She will never give us a chance again, you understand right?"

"I know my friend, I know all too well Tia." He said, looking down at The Professor. "But she's still a Time Lord, one of the last of my kind. No matter what she has done, I can't bear the thought of seeing another of my kind killed when there are already so few of us alive. Please, for all that is good in this world, show her the mercy you would have shown me if it were me lying there instead of her. I won't take another Time Lord's life Tia, I've taken enough lives. I beg you to spare hers."

She nodded, and ended her spells. The ropes binding her captive loosened, the symbol below her vanished, and The Doctor helped unbind the ropes around The Pofessor so she could stand up. "I hope you know what you're doing my old friend." She said as she backed away to give them space.

"I hope so too my friend, I hope so as well." He whispered tiredly.

=The Doctor's PoV=

He breathed so heavily as he faced The Professor in the same room he had faced her the day before, that he was having difficulty doing anything else, yet his breathing was definitely improving and he had a feeling that he knew why. She stood up and looked at him, still glaring at him with pure hatred in her eyes, but also with a small sense of gratitude for saving her life.

"Your mercy will be the end of you Doctor." She growled as she paced in a circle.

"Maybe, but I've killed enough lives to ensure my ticket into the deepest pits of hell." He whispered. "I won't take another life if I can avoid it."

"Pity I don't feel the same way!" She said hotly. "I am going to enjoy killing you in front of your precious friends Doctor; I'm going to make sure to stain this clean floor with so much of your blood they'll have to redecorate just to hide the stains!"

"We'll see about that Professor." He whispered as he raised his hooves in a battle stance even as she prepared hers.

"We will indeed." She growled.

They stared for a moment, with Celestia and the others watching them, before they both entered the Mind over Matter state and charged each other. They attacked and fought furiously before The Doctor was wounded and forced to exit the state. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his stomach after a vicious pummeling.

"Is that the best… you can do?" He gasped, rising to his feet as the sun's rays fell on him.

"Still thinking you can win, pretty calm for a Time Lord about to die." She said wearily.

"You're pretty hostile for a mare… whose talking to a stallion that saved her life at the expense of possibly… losing his own." He said, his breath getting stronger with each second.

"Stop talking like a pony, and talk LIKE A TIME LORD!" She yelled, charging him again in the Mind over Matter technique.

They fought again, and yet again The Doctor came out on the bad end of the exchange. He received another wound to his back and rear hooves, and he was not fairing any better than before. However even as he gasped and clutched his stomach, he felt the pain easing away and his breathing getting easier.

"DOCTOR!" Twilight shouted, her horn glowing along with Celestia's as they prepared to help him out.

"No… stay out of this." He gasped as loud as he could as he took another ready stance. "This… is my fight!"

"Yes… and you will lose it!" The Professor called out, charging him again but not in the Mind over Matter state this time.

They fought hoof to hoof for roughly ten minutes, and they were roughly even as they fought, but there was a subtle difference between the two of them. The Doctor seemed to be recovering his stamina much easier while she was tiring out much more rapidly. She was breathing much harder than he was, and he was definitely starting to get the upper hoof on her as she started backing away from him. She got a lucky strike on him and smacked his chest again, causing him to retreat momentarily before he regained his stance again.

"How… can you… be so strong?" She gasped. "You… were tortured… unfed… unconscious… for hours and hours on end! You couldn't have… recovered so… fast."

"Surprised Professor?" He said, guessing that his hunch was correct. "I guess I should explain, you see when you left me and Tia alone prior to torturing me, she cast a spell to link my body to hers by magic. This was originally intended to allow her to absorb some of my pain so I would not go crazy or die in the process of your torture. However it also seems to have had an unexpected side effect the longer she maintained it."

"The longer she and I remained connected the deeper and stronger the connection got, similar to the way Time Strands work. So after a good twenty hours of being linked to her, I was able to subconsciously influence her mind and how her magic works ever so slightly. I did this as she prepared to rescue me with my daughter's and Twilight's help. Told her how to release me, though I wasn't exactly aware of everything at the time, I knew that she was stumped about how to get me loose. Also showed her how magic can affect technology, which is precisely why nothing they did could work against your contraptions before. Once they understood how your technology functioned, their magic could affect it."

"But that… still doesn't explain how you're recovering strength!" She said confused.

"Oh yes about that, well you see she never severed her link to me even after she rescued me, and as the connection deepened and grew stronger I started gaining access to her magic, more importantly her passive magic." He whispered, looking over at Celestia as she looked at him confused. "She doesn't realize it, but I have access to her best benefits for being an Alicorn of the Sun. She is at her strongest, while the sun is out, and her strength is increased and her body regenerates much more rapidly when the sun is out. Same goes for Luna but only when the moon is out. So in other words, her sun ally is now my ally."

"As for proof, Tia may I borrow some of your magic?" He asked smugly.

"If it helps, go right ahead." She said kindly.

The Doctor concentrated on one of the ropes and imagined it taking the shape of a heart. Instantly Celestia's horn glowed, and the nearest rope floated into the air and took the shape of a heart. "Pretty impressive isn't it?" He asked The Professor.

"But… that's impossible!" She stammered. "It is impossible; it can't be… it's not scientifically possible for you to do that!"

"That is why you can't win here Professor." He said. "You see, it isn't science, its magic. Magic runs through these ponies, their whole world runs on magic, and magic is the exact opposite of science. Which is why they don't understand our technological marvels the way we understand them, and why we don't understand their magic the way they do. With me helping Celestia to understand technology, she was able to help free me, where her magic could do nothing to help her."

She started backing away, backing closer to the nearest window as The Doctor advanced on her, now fully recovered thanks to Celestia's Magic. "Admit it Professor, you can't win now that I am among these ponies." He stated. "With their magic aiding my science, there is nothing we cannot accomplish together. I have their full support, and I'm willing to die to protect them, which is why they give me their strength, and they continue to give me their strength even now. You however, isolated for hundreds of years with nopony to talk to, believing that you and you alone could accomplish anything and not willing to get help in your quests, are powerless here. I have the help of my friends, my family, and everypony that is depending on me to keep them safe without ever knowing I exist! You however are alone, and you can't beat me now."

The Professor looked between him and Celestia, the odds now clearly stacked against her for the first time. She continued backing away before her back touched the glass, then she kicked it and smashed it before jumping out of it. He rushed to the window and watched as The Professor soared into the air, fleeing the palace riding her jetpack. She grew smaller and smaller by the second, before she vanished, fleeing in the direction of her Tardis in the Everfree Forest.

Celestia walked up and stood next to him as he stared at the point where The Professor vanished. "You know she won't be content with this defeat my friend." She said calmly. "She will come back."

"I know, but she won't dare attack me while I'm in the company of ponies again." He said calmly. "Feels like old times Tia?"

"Oh yes, it most definitely felt like old times." She said jokingly. "Although, next time you want to remind me of the old days, please leave your villains out of my kingdom. I had enough of these kinds of situations before the six hundred and fifty seventh year of my reign."

"Don't blame me for being a magnet for every super villain in the galaxy." He said defensively. "It's not my fault I'm so good looking."

Celestia laughed as she looked at him. "You certainly know how to show a mare a good time, though this time you're going to have to clean up some of the mess you made. I'm not letting you off the hook this time my friend."

"Fair enough, although before you sever your connection spell with me, may I borrow your magic one more time?" He said, remembering something.

"Certainly, what is it?" She said.

Fifteen minutes later The Doctor along with his two daughters and Luna walked into the Canterlot Clinic with Princess Celestia in front of them. After several ponies welcomed her back, asked her if she was alright and requested to visit the RER. Once they passed a certain point the head doctor tried to bar him and his family from proceeding, however he was immediately silenced by Luna and Celestia, after they told him that he was Ditzy's husband and that he had full permission to be there.

He was allowed to enter the room and he looked at the terrible condition his wife was in, but he was still happy to see her nonetheless. He walked over to her and saw her sleeping gently, knowing that anything could wake her up easily. "And the prince leaned over, and kissed Sleeping Beauty." He whispered, as he leaned over and kissed his wife deeply on the lips.

Her body glowed brilliantly for a moment, and the bandages covering her wings fell away to reveal them fully healed. Her wounds that she had suffered vanished, and her breathing quickened and slowed instantly. Once the glowing stopped he stopped kissing her and stepped back to see if she woke up, only to find her still pretending to be fast asleep.

"Oh Deeeerpy." He whispered, knowing she was waiting for him to kiss her again. "Wakey wakey sleepy head."

He started tickling her wings, and unable to resist him she started giggling and laughing merrily as he continued to tickle her wings. "Okay you win I give up!" She shouted, still laughing as he continued to tickle her.

He stopped tickling her and looked into her golden crisscrossed eyes momentarily, before closing the distance between their faces once again and kissing her deeply on the lips. "Told you I'd win." He whispered gently.

"Yes you did." She whispered. "Are Sparkler and Dinky alright?"

"Yes they are just fine and waiting to visit you before you leave." He whispered. "Shall I send in the ponies?"

"Yes." She cooed.

He went over and opened the door, allowing Dinky to run in happily to see her mother while still carrying her broken Luna toy while Mr. TomTom flew overhead. Sparkler was right behind her, and just as happy to see Derpy as Dinky was. "Mommy!" Dinky cried as she jumped into Derpy's hooves so she could nuzzle Dinky's face lovingly.

"Hey darling, how are you?" Derpy whispered.

"I'm okay, but my new toy…" She said, holding up her Luna toy that was broken and burned to pieces.

"Oh don't worry about your toy Dinky." The Doctor said, taking the destroyed toy and examining it. "It's not like I can't fix this toy at all. It will take a while but I can repair the damage and finish it up, you'll have you're WalkNTalk Luna toy again in no time."

"What about my other toys?" Dinky asked nervously. "That scary mare broke all my toys."

"Oh don't worry as long as the pieces are there, I can fix them all." He said cheerfully. "It may take about a week or less, but you'll have all your toys back to the way they were, promise!"

Dinky smiled and hugged her mom tightly, happy to have her parents again. Sparkler however, looked at them very differently now, almost unsure of how she should act. Derpy understood what was up, and asked the question on Sparklers mind. "I'm guessing you learned about your father right?"

"Yes… is it true that you're an alien dad?" She asked him. "That your over nine hundred years old, from another planet and another universe?"

"Yes, I am all of those things." He said calmly. "I can understand if you don't want to be a member of this family, Derpy and I kept everything a secret from you two because we wanted you to grow up not knowing the whole truth. We figured you would be happier not knowing what I really am."

"Why would you hide it from us, I mean… why would you hide the truth about Dinky and where she came from?" She said, turning to Derpy now. "Why did you marry him, I mean he's an ALIEN… and… how did you two… I mean… how did…"

"When you have seen and done what we have done Sparkler, you learn that anything is possible." Derpy whispered as she nuzzled Dinky's face again. "I loved your father just as much as he loved me, that's all that is needed for anypony to make it work. And we both love you two just as much as we always have. He gave me his love, and I gave him my love, together we brought Dinky into the world and you into our family."

"So Sparkler, still want to be a member of our family?" The Doctor asked Sparkler. "I'll understand if you don't want to be daughter to a Time Lord, of course Dinky will lose her big sister…"

"You won't leave will you big sis?" Dinky asked quickly, worried at the sound of those words.

Sparkler looked between Dinky and him before rolling her eyes and smiling. "If I don't stick around, who's going to keep an eye on Dinky with you two crazy ponies out of the house?" She said.

After a few more minutes of reunion for the Hooves' family, The Doctor left to help fill out paperwork so that Derpy could leave that day, and to allow Celestia to end her spell linking them. However without Celestia to give her stamina to him, he noticed just how weak he really was. Still he managed to get through the day. Luna also filled him in on the objects they found that needed him to dismantle safely. Finally after two hours Celestia found time to ask HIM for a favor.

"I need a vacation Doctor." She asked him out of hearing range of her sister and guards and other official ponies. "I'll make you a deal; I'll let you off the hook with all of the medical bills and other repair damages my palace sustained because of your little bout with The Professor, if you agree to let me spend a week in the Tardis starting tonight."

"Why my Tardis?" He asked curiously.

"Because if I go somewhere in my kingdom, or even the Crystal Empire I will be hounded by officials, the papers, and I'll never be able to relax for even a moment." She said smugly. "But if I spend it in your Tardis, I can stay close to my ponies, and relax in absolute quiet and safety. Besides I miss my room aboard your Tardis, and in all honesty does it matter, you won't have to pay the bills if you agree."

"Point made, alright I'll see you at my house tonight after sundown." He said.

"By the way Doctor, one question about what you said earlier, what did you mean when you said you influenced me subconsciously?" She asked.

"Well Celestia while I was connected to you, you slowly experienced my emotions and experiences." He said, trying to describe it in a way she can understand. "You knew how hard a life I've endured and how many lives I've been forced to destroy and have influenced over nine hundred years. Most importantly, the negative ones, when you felt unhappy or slightly angry, my inner emotions enhanced them by a multiple of ten times that which you would have felt. So basically, if I would have shown her no mercy, you would have most certainly not shown her it."

"I see… so I wasn't exactly myself then was I?" She sighed. "That's a relief; I felt I was going down a road I did not want to. I thank you for your explanation Doctor; it eases my mind knowing that I was really not myself this day."

=Sunset, eight hours later=

"Welcome Tia." The Doctor said as he watched Celestia leave her chariot and walk toward his and Derpy's home, all the damage done to it almost completely repaired.

She was in the company of one of her servants, a chef by the looks of it, and carrying a large suitcase. "Hello Doctor, is my room ready for me?" She asked quietly as the two ponies pulling her chariot took off back to Canterlot.

"Yes it is, my family will be spending time in The Tardis, I promised Dinky and Sparkler they could explore it." He said. "What's with the suitcase, I thought you wouldn't be taking so much with you on vacation?"

"I'm not, that's my chef's belongings." She said calmly. "He believes that his services are required, that your food isn't good enough for me, so he insists on coming aboard and bringing his own set of cooking utensils on board as well."

"I refuse to let my princess spend a week away from the palace without proper meals made by a professional chef of at least five star restaurant qualities!" He said in a very French accent. "I insist that I come aboard, and prepare my lady's meals, day and night while she is on her well-deserved vacation! Do not worry about me, I can take care of myself and my own room needs, but I will not let my princess eat food not properly and professionally prepared by any other pony."

"I've already informed him of what to expect of the Tardis." Celestia said as she walked toward the back of the house, where Derpy and his two daughters were waiting for him.

"Come on let's go, I want to go play inside!" Dinky complained.

"The first thing you're doing is going to bed when we get in there." Derpy said seriously. "You two should not be awake at this hour.

"But I'm not sleepy." Dinky said, unable to hold back the yawn.

"Alright Hooves' family, in we go." The Doctor said as he pulled his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the lonely tree in the backyard, causing the Tardis to take the shape of the blue box they knew so well. "You all go in first, I'll catch up. Just need to grab something I forgot inside."

"Finally, I get to have a week of rest and relaxation with no officials and no reports to deal with." Celestia said as she went in first at Derpy's request, followed by her chef and then Sparkler, Dinky, and Derpy.

The Doctor closed the door and waited, knowing that the toy bird made of mismatched pieces was flying above him was waiting for him to be alone before flying down to him. A holographic projector strapped to its back created a 3D image of a mare he was all too familiar with. **–Listen up Doctor!- **The Professor said over the background static. **–You may have won this round… but I am not defeated yet, this is only the beginning. I will have my revenge… just you wait!-**

The hologram finished, the toy self-destructed and exploded into pieces too small for him to use to repair the toy.

He looked up into the sky, at all the stars, and then back to his Tardis. "Well… so much for peace and quiet." He said to himself as he walked over to the Tardis and walked inside. "At least one of us will be enjoying themselves this week."


	16. Parting Words and Preview

**/watch?v=7gzFjjCWvPE**

-Yawn- Boy am I tired boys and girls, been a long night of storytelling and let me tell you I am about as pooped as pooped can get. These eyes are tired and the bed is callin my name. But there's still a bit of time before we all go home and say goodbye until tomorrow night.

Didja enjoy that story, glad everything worked out in the end… or did it? *chuckles*

The Professor aint gone and she aint finished yet. She vows revenge and she won't be denied for much longer. But that all can wait for now, or at least until tomorrow night! *chuckles*

Now then I know you all don't like listening to me rattle on about stories, so I'll just let you all off tonight. You all prefer it this way don't ya, less talking more stories and more drinking *chuckles*

So for tonight, the curtains close on another story, and the theatre lights begin to turn off as all the good little boys and girls trundle on back home, with pillows and blankets in hand… satisfied with the story they just watched and heard.

Well well, look at that… we still got a bit'a night left to us… so why don't I give ya'll a sneak peak at the next story…

… oh Celestia's vacation… sorry but you'll hafta talk to the boss about that, that's a side story that he'll tell another day, for all the people who aint night owls like little old me. If ya wanna hear that story… come on by durin the day, I'm sure the lady there will be …more than happy… to accommodate you...

As for next story, gather around before the sun rises and we all go back home.

And let me share with you… a story staring everybody's favorite Princess, Luna… as we follow her as she takes on the journey… and wanders into Madness… hehehehehehe

**/watch?v=FDyNnCzfzuU**

"Do you see anything yet Luna?" The Doctor asked as Luna listened to the ticking of the clock in the background.

"Nay… we can't see anything… all we see is darkness." Luna said, trying to see the doors which he spoke of.

"You are still tied to those you know, that which you are familiar with… you must let them go to see into my mind Luna… only then can I show you the door." He whispered, the clock still ticking in the background.

"Doctor… it's so hard we can't… we can still feel them… they are still there…" She said, knowing her guards Owl and Hawk were in the room with her.

"Let them go Luna… forget them… forget all of them… let them go…" He whispered.

"We are trying…" She said, trying to sever all connections to her two guards, so that not even the tiniest thread remained between them and her.

"It is hard… to sever your hoof from your body… but you must if you wish to enter my mind Luna." He whispered. "Sever them from your heart and mind… you must break the bond that you have come to depend on for so long… sever your link… to your closest friends Princess Luna…"


End file.
